Escape the Mind
by htbookreader1
Summary: what do doctors dee and dum do to poor Hatter? How does he find the courage to smash through that wall? Could Alice have anything to do with it? hatter torture scene but with a little twist..alice/hatter please r r
1. Chapter 1

**firstly this is my first fan fic of Syfy's Alice, secondly i LOVE the show (or miniseries) seriously go and watch it!!! i watched it twice and i still love it, especially hatter who is soooo completely gorgeous and beautiful...this is the first fic of 010--or2010 whatever so happy new year everyone!!! I think that this is part one...but in any case i will definetly be writing alice fan fics for a while...with my rob/mar fan fics and twilight...so be prepared or not...**

**Escape the Mind**

He had never been in this place before. The room, if you could call it that, was filled with dripping green goo that couldn't be touched. There was no door, no window—no breathing space. And Hatter, more than anything right now, needed breathing space. He was completely alone. One of Hatter's strengths was once in his ability to remain alone and a recluse. Yet he was beginning to feel something strange in the bottom of his stomach.

_Too quiet. _He reasoned to himself.

But what Hatter did not realize, as he fixed his hat nervously, was that the feeling of the quiet, was not the cause of the ache in his stomach.

It was something much deeper yet.

Suddenly Hatter heard a squeak, and then another, and then another. He turned around and found Doctor Dee and Doctor Dum walking towards him. Hatter felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end at the sight of the duo.

They were laughing, and thereby, making the victim doubly nervous.

"Ah," said Dum.

"Hatter," said Dee.

"Please, sit," they said together.

Suddenly, before Hatter's eyes, a chair stood before him. Hatter did not budge an inch.

"Sit!" commanded Dum.

Dee giggled.

Hatter sat in the chair and the twin doctors stood in front of him. Both of them were smiling grandly. Hatter simply looked at the two brothers.

"So?" he asked. "Why is a raven—"

Dee tisked. "None of your nonsense now Hatter. Save that for Mad March. We are here for another purpose entirely."

Hatter said nothing.

"You have always been under the radar," said Dee stepping closer to Hatter. "Always moving, constantly. Been working both sides sometimes I suspect." He touched Hatter's hat and Hatter quickly tried to hit Dee's hand. But when he touched the insane doctor's hand he felt his whole body get an electric shock and Dee successfully grabbed his hat and flung it away.

"You won't be needing it," said Dum.

"To continue with the examination," said Dee. "The Queen has never been able to catch you. And she has sent far worse than Mad March to do the job."

"Yet you walk right into our laps," said Dum standing next to his brother.

Hatter looked at the sickeningly green floor which seemed to move in erratic motions. There was no rhythm or order in this room.

Dee shook his head. "We were under the impression you were more cunning than that Hatter."

Hatter growled and looked up at the brothers. "You can just forget this. I'm not telling you anything."

The twins looked at each other and smiled. They then turned to Hatter.

Dee walked around Hatter's chair in a clockwise circle while Dum walked counterclockwise. Hatter knew they were trying to intimidate him. He had been under torture before, he would not let them take over his mind. He would remain strong. He would remain strong if not for himself…

Then for her.

_For Alice._

"Why does Hatter, a known criminal, come into the light suddenly?" asked Dee.

"Guilty conscious?" asked Dum.

They both passed Hatter in their circle and shook their heads together.

"Death wise?" asked Dee with a giggle.

Again they passed Hatter in their circular walk and shook their heads.

"The girl," said Dum.

Hatter looked up and his traitorous heart began to beat faster. And, as if they were in tune with his heart beat, the twins picked up their pace. Hatter, meanwhile, felt very vulnerable without his hat. He also felt extremely sickened by the room, the doctors, and the lonesome feeling in his chest which seemed to grow like a void with each second.

"What girl?" asked Dee.

"The oyster," said Dum. "You remember Dee, the girl we were trying to get the ring from."

Dee nodded. "Then we became bored and tried to kill the little oyster."

Dum noticed Hatter trying to hold rage as he stared at the floor. He winked at Dee.

"I hear she's being examined in the cages for the amusement of the queen and the court," said Dee laughing mischievously.

"I wonder what they're going to do with the little oyster who knew too much," said Dum.

Hatter stood up suddenly and grabbed Dum's throat. "She's not a mindless animal!" But the next second Hatter was given another electric shock at the touch and was jolted back into his chair.

Dee and Dum knelt together in front of Hatter, who seemed that he lost the ability to get up out of the chair.

"Dum," said Dee in a sweet voice that sounded like butter and velvet, "I believe Hatter's fallen for a mindless, senseless, oyster."

"Dee," said Dum in an equally sweet voice, "I believe so."

Hatter struggled in his invisible hand cuffs.

"You're tired Hatter," said Dum meeting Hatter's eye. "Why don't you get some rest?"

Hatter unwittingly shut his eyes and his last memory was of the twins' vicious laughter. When he opened his eyes he found that he was in a different room completely. He was in the court of the Queen of Hearts. At first he was completely alone and then the room began to fill with members of the court all talking and squabbling like birds.

He tried to hide, worried that they would see him, but he found that he could not move his feet. But that didn't matter anyway, because he realized that the members of the court couldn't see him.

"They don't see me," he whispered quietly.

"That's right," said a voice behind him.

Hatter turned his head around and found Dee walking next to him.

"Where am I?" asked Hatter.

"We've moved you," said Dee.

"For the moment," said his brother suddenly appearing and walking to Hatter's other side.

"Why?" asked Hatter, though regretting the question as soon as he asked it.

He regretted the question because he suddenly saw a pack of suits walk into the court. They were carrying something. Hatter realized that they were not just carrying something, but someone. They were carrying Alice. She was unconscious.

"Alice!" screamed Hatter as he tried to run to her. But his feet would not move.

He simply watched as they slowly carried her body across the room as the members of the court looked on at the strange sight of the oyster's journey.

Dee and Dum crossed their arms and smiled at each other.

"Alice!" yelled the love struck man bitterly hoping that somehow she would wake up, that she would see him.

But she did not awaken to his calls. The suits also took no notice of Hatter's screams though they seemed to echo throughout the entire room, as they echoed through his heart.

The suits carried Alice to the spherical cage at the other side of the room. One opened the cage door and the two holding her threw her into the cage, then they closed the door.

"Don't hurt her!" screamed Hatter who was beginning to feel that he couldn't even hear himself.

"Why can't they hear me?" asked Hatter to the doctors.

"Perhaps you need to think with your feet," said Dee.

Suddenly Hatter realized he could move his feet. Upon this new freedom he ran past the guards, the suits and the court members as if they were nothing more than thin air. And, in fact they were completely intangible upon Hatter's contact with their bodies. It was like they were just images that moved and swayed with the inconstant wind, or with the fast pace of Hatter's step and heart.

Hatter did not stop to realize how he moved through everyone. His focus was only on the cage in which Alice was kept.

At last, he arrived at the other side of the room and attempted to try to open the cage. But, to his horror, he found that the cage was completely real. The metal bars felt cold on his shaking fingertips. The lock on the door, no matter how he yanked, remained stable and unmoved.

Hatter's head sank onto the bars of the cage as he watched Alice. He saw her chest move up and down in a beautiful constant rhythm. It was the first motion that felt so sound and true to Hatter's ears. He closed his eyes.

"You're alive," he whispered.

_You're alive._

He found himself smiling.

But there were no smiles in the twisted world of Dee and Dum. The insane twins, the mad doctors, were not about to let victims reap any benefits during torture. Everything had an alternative turn and direction with the brothers. If Hatter had been paying attention he would have realized that the first pain, his worry for Alice, had been granted with a price: Alice was unconscious. His second pain: the inability to use his legs, was lifted, but the cage was brutally tangible.

And now, now that he had worried if she was alive, and she was indeed breathing, something would go wrong.

And, as things are in Wonderland, something did go wrong.

Alice was beginning to stir. She blinked, turned, and blinked again. She sat up in her cage and shivered.

"Alice!" yelled Hatter happily. "It's me!"

But Alice could not hear him, her eyes were locked on the suits who, one by one, entered her cage and began to beat her. They had her sit on a chair of simple wood and tied her hands behind her so she couldn't move. They then began to kick her, beat her so that she screamed and tears unwittingly fled down her cheeks.

"No!" yelled Hatter. "No! Stop!"

He gripped the bars of the cage but could do nothing except watch the torture unfold. And as Alice was beaten, so too did Hatter feel pain. As they dug needles into her body that made her wail with incontrollable pain, so too was Hatter burning on the inside.

There was absolutely no way that things could be worse than they were at that moment. But, undoubtedly, they did.

"Hatter!" Alice screamed through the pain.

Hatter's eyes widened as he tried to catch his true love's eye.

"I'm here," he answered, banging on the bars of the prison. "I'm here Alice don't worry everything will be—"

"Hatter!" she yelled again with bitter tears.

"Alice I'm—" Then Hatter stopped himself, because he realized that she too, along with the suits, and the people, could not see him.

He cringed as she yelled out his name again before collapsing into pain.

He rested his head on the prison trying to block out her calls.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked the doctors.

"Shh!" commanded Dee.

"It's going to get better," said Dum.

"Silence girl!" commanded a voice behind Hatter.

He recognized that voice.

He turned around and braced himself against the cage and came face to face with the queen of hearts. But Hatter could see that she could not tell that he was there….just like everyone else.

As the queen moved closer to the prison Hatter moved away instinctively. His pulse was racing as the queen smiled at Alice and then pursed her lips and sighed.

She turned to one of the suits. "What was she squabbling about?"

The suit shrugged. "Something about a Hatter."

The queen nodded. "Get out, I will speak with her."

The suits obediently left the cage, walked right through Hatter, to the other side of the room to join the rest of the Court to watch their queen converse with the oyster.

The queen of hearts stood over Alice. Alice did not meet her eye. "You will look at me when I speak to you."

Alice looked up at the queen. "What?"

"You were yelling something earlier, it quite disturbed me."

Hatter watched as Alice said nothing.

"Something about Hatter," said the queen.

Again Alice said nothing.

The queen bent down and touched Alice's bruised face. "How fragile oysters are. They hurt you pretty badly didn't they?"

Alice bit her lip. Then she said something under her breath which, though the queen had trouble hearing, Hatter understood clear as day.

"He'll come for me."

Hatter brightened despite the circumstances he was witnessing.

"What was that?" asked the queen.

"I said," repeated Alice with new found strength, "that he'll come for me."

The queen chuckled, unblemished by Alice's threat.

"No my dear," she replied shaking her head. "He won't."

Hatter's shook with anger as her eyes widened at the queen's words.

"Why not?" asked Alice trying to sound unshaken.

"Because he is dead," replied the queen in a voice deprived of emotion.

"Dead?" repeated Alice.

"I'm not dead!" Hatter said, though he did not scream.

"Yes," said the queen with a nod. "His head was decapitated not five minutes ago."

Alice shook her head and tried to stand up, but realized she could not defeat her shackles. "No, no, he's not dead! You must have killed someone else named Hatter." Despite the courage of her speech, she was crying.

"I'm afraid it is true," said the queen though she did not sound like she regretted one word of it.

"No its not," Hatter said though he spoke in a whisper. There was no use in trying to make himself heard to a room where all seemed to be blind and deaf to his presence. Even the one soul, the one girl, the one person in his world, who he had made a real connection with. Even her ears were out of joint to his cries.

"Alice," whispered Hatter desperately. "I'm not dead."

He watched her eyes grow watery with tears ill spent. And he wished that he could command them to halt in their flight down her cheeks for just a moment. He wanted, more than anything to speak with her.

And the doctors, with their trickery, seemed to be completely and utterly in tune with his emotions.

"Shame," remarked Dee, "isn't it?"

Hatter said nothing.

"You should have been kinder to the girl," said Dum. "You should not have let her love you and then pretended you loved her in return."

"I never—" Hatter was about to reply when suddenly the queen spoke.

"He did not love you anyway," she said.

Alice, to Hatter's shock nodded. And, to add to his shock the queen suddenly turned into Jack Heart. He put his hand to Alice's cheek to wipe her tears, but his touch seemed to cause Alice to bleed, and Hatter felt like he had been kicked.

"He never loved you," said Jack kindly. "Otherwise he would not have left you in the forest. He would have held you as I do now." Jack then wrapped his arms around Alice and embraced her. But the embrace, though did not involve Hatter, seemed to be cutting and bruising him.

"And," said Jack, "he would have kissed you as I am now."

Jack then closed his eyes and kissed Alice in the spherical cage, in the middle of the court, in front of Dee and Dum, in front of Hatter. And it was that act that caused Hatter's vision to blur. It took him a moment to realize that tears were streaming from his eyes to his cheeks. And this was quite odd for Hatter because…well….he was not one to become emotional. He was driven to anger, to passions, to hatred, to greed, but never driven to tears.

Alice looked up at Jack. "I never loved him."

"Alice, no," Hatter whispered.

And Hatter closed his eyes. He knelt to the floor and covered his face in his hands. There was too much chaos for him to take. Every inch of happiness he could gleam from this situation was suddenly and atrociously removed.

And she did not love him.

_She doesn't love me._

"She never did," said Dee suddenly as if he could read Hatter's thoughts.

"You knew it before," said Dum. "Try looking a little more pleased."

Though Hatter's eyes were closed and he could not tell how close they were to him, they sounded as if they were whispering into his ears.

But Hatter, in this vulnerable state of being, thought of Alice. He remembered the trembling girl in the wet blue dress observe him uneasily. _Do you know why they call me Hatter? _He had asked trying to sound important. _Because you wear a hat?_

And then it was like everything he had ever said to her just flooded back to his consciousness.

_Why are you still hooked on Jack?_

_You still don't trust me after I just…I risked my neck getting you out of there! _

_I wouldn't let you do it if I didn't you'd be safe.  
_Then he remembered wandering through the dense forests with the confident girl in the blue dress. She stood in front of him and looked up into his eyes weakly. _What if I do get stuck here? _There was true terror in her words and her eyes at the thought of remaining a branded object in the backwards world. And, for his part, he did not need to think about his answer. _Then I'll make sure that you're okay._ And he was about to kiss her when…

Suddenly Hatter opened his eyes. He stood up and faced the twins.

"So?" said Dee.

"What do you have to say?" said Dum.

"This can't be real," said Hatter.

He had not come to such a conclusion before, because it all seemed so real to him. Everything that was going on could truly happen. The beatings, harassing, cries, and tears could all be taking place. And perhaps they were indeed going on somewhere in the world in some alternate universe. There could be a universe where people could change into other beings and convince the pure to believe in lies.

But Hatter did not live in such a world.

And, though Alice's cries of pain might be truth, though her tears a reality, and her wounds a certainty, the words were lies. The lies were not merely in the misconception of Hatter's supposed death, but that he did not love Alice.

And he knew now, now more than ever, that his love for her was true.

Once Hatter realized that, other things were coming into their rightful place. All the words that had been spoken by the queen, by Jack, by the twins, were all manifestations of his own insecurities and doubts. They spoke out what his true fears were as if they….knew…them…

"This is not real," said Hatter.

"In one definition of the word real," said Dee, "you are right."

"These people," said Dum, "are not really real so to speak."

"But—" Hatter began, then he stopped himself. He tried to remember something that Charlie had said to Alice when the two of them had saved her.

_Believe it or not, we're in your head._

"We're in your head," said Dum, "you already know that."

"So then it didn't work," said Hatter, "whatever you're trying to do….I already know this can't be happening."

"But these are your creations Hatter," said Dee sweetly.

"What?"

"We don't make up what we find," said Dum. "We simply enlarge molehills and bring forth the worst possible fears. You already knew that she was here, probably being examined by the queen's court."

"And we let you take us through the rest," said Dee.

"But I know what you're doing," said Hatter. "I know this is all in my head. I can stop this if I want."

Dee nodded. "True, true, but Hatter, why are you still bleeding?"

Hatter was covered with wounds and blood. His arms were cut, as was his face.

"This is real," he said.

"We didn't care if you found out we were in your head," said Dee flashing a smile.

"We just needed to make you vulnerable, to see your weakness," explained Dum. "And we've found your weakness."

Dee nudged Dum. "Observe brother," he said as if examining an object, "human tears."

"This pain you feel now," said Dee in a whisper, "is actually happening."

Suddenly Hatter felt himself wake up, wake up from this nightmare, from this scene. And found himself back in the room in which he had begun. The goo continued to fall and rise without any hint of stopping. It sickened him. But he felt inwardly sickened, like his mind had just been poked and prodded. More than that, he found that his wounds were true and lasting, even in this real state.

And Hatter found that he was still sitting in the chair. He was tied up, like Alice had been, and he was being hurt just like her.

Instead of this weakening him, Hatter felt alive, deeply angry, but alive. He felt that there was something he had to do, had to say, before all chaos fell. It was a mistake that the twins told him they were no longer in his head. That meant that for the moment his thoughts were his own and he needed to think. He was forming a plan…a definite plan.

"We've been breaking you," said Dee.

"Slowly," said Dum, "but surely breaking you."

"Mad March," said Dee, "is here. We best leave."

And as they left Hatter looked up and saw Mad March.

"Hatter," said March in a raspy voice.

"Heard about the weakening love you have for the oyster," said March shaking his rabbit head.

"Why," said Hatter who was finding it hard to breathe, "is a raven like a writing desk?"

"I see that you appear untouched by the twins' games," said March. "They're supposed to be the best at this cracking business."

Hatter said nothing.

"They will kill the girl Hatter," said March. "There's really nothing you can do to stop it."

Hatter again said nothing.

March sighed. "Twinkle, twinkle little bat, how I wonder what you're at. Goodbye Hatter."

Mad March stepped closer to Hatter. Hatter knew it would all be over soon. It would be easier to let himself be defeated. After all there were a number of things that could go wrong. The twins had accurately assessed Hatter's doubts and thoughts. He loved Alice but…

_Jack._

But Hatter had something going for him that Jack had not. Hatter maybe couldn't offer her a safe return through the looking glass. He couldn't offer her complete security and wealth. But he could offer her his love. And maybe the backwardness of Wonderful was in need for a straight answer like that. And this thought, which could break any bond of man did so.

Suddenly Hatter escaped from the invisible cuffs and used the chair to beat March. As March lay on the ground suffering or dead, Hatter, with his new power broke the glass that bound him in this room.

**sooo whats going to happen??? you can see its a little AU and if ppl want it i'll do a part two thats a little different from what actually happens...anyway let me know what you think!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**hey all it has been a while...but i have been working really realy really hard on this chapter which is not going to be the end of this story at all...so i realized that this is called Escape the mind...that doesnt necessary have to limit me to Hatter's mind...for this chapter you really have to suspend disbelief, in wonderland you have to do that already so just go easy with this please...i think its really creative but i'd like to hear your feedback...side note: anyone who read my RH story "love leads us home" this might sound slightly similar...but its not...cause its Alice in Wonderland...this starts with alice's POV**

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine...but i wish hatter was...just for a day..**

**Chapter Two: Hear me...**

She stood inside her spherical prison. She could hear their words perfectly, as if they were standing next to her. Yet none of them could hear her cries.

Alice felt as if she was a child again. As if she was just a child who was forced to watch as others decided her every move. She remained trapped in this round tomb of silence…all that remained in her possession were her thoughts.

Besides the change in her father, which she thought of, and shed many tears over, she thought about _him _constantly.

Alice bit her lip and closed her eyes. She forced all the threats noises to leave her thoughts so that all her energy focused on one specific thing. And that thing slowly morphed into the shape of a familiar man with a very particular hat and a very infectious smile. Though she was kept like an animal in this cage, and her fate was in the hands of monsters, Alice found herself smiling.

The smile was very small at first, but then it grew. She smiled through the pain of the disappearance of her father's love. She smiled through the torment of Jack's lies and the Queen's treachery.

He was so clear…almost as if he was actually there.

Alice leaned her head against the cage and closed her eyes to better picture Hatter's face.

He smiled at her in her unconscious. _Miss me?_

She nodded wordlessly.

Hatter bit his lip. _Bad time?_

Alice shrugged at the fabricated creation of her mind.

_I can come back another time_,offered the vision.

She shook her head.

Hatter was silent for a bit before he spoke with determination in every word he uttered.

_I'm coming for you. _

Alice chuckled lightly.

_No jokes. I'm going to save you from this. _Hatter played with his hat a bit trying to fix it so that it sat just so on his head.

Both the vision of Hatter and Alice were silent for a while. Suddenly Alice felt a tear twirl down her cheek and her eyes blurred.

"I wish you would," she whispered.

As Alice was having this conversation with the man in her mind, the Queen turned to look at her. She, like the rest of the court, could not hear Alice's words, but she knew that the oyster was talking. It sort of worried the Queen of Hearts. Though she admitted to herself that if she were confined to a prison, she might have inclinations to speak when there was no one there. But, at the same time, the fact of the matter was: this was Wonderland. Things were not as simple as they appeared.

The Queen was going to get to the bottom of this.

She made her way to the cage and carefully opened it. The Queen of Hearts, the ruler of Wonderland, looked at the little oyster she had captured. Alice Hamilton looked at the queen.

"What were you saying?" she asked

Alice took a breath. "When?"

"Just now," said the queen.

_Don't tell her. She would not look kindly on the mad. _Hatter's voice suddenly sprang into her mind as if he was standing beside her. She could almost feel his presence next to her…almost.

"Nothing," said Alice firmly.

_Stay calm_, said the sweet voice in Alice's mind.

And she did so. She remained calm.

The queen was quite put out by Alice's surprising level headedness during this interrogation. She had not been this way before…everyone could see how she had been pounding at her cage and shouting in silence.

This serenity on the oyster's face…was just spooky. It was near maddening.

_You never expected that you could frighten the Queen of Hearts I imagine_, said Hatter.

Outwardly, Alice smiled.

The queen was suspicious. "You just smiled."

"When?"

"Just now!" yelled the queen. "I order you to tell me what you are smiling at!"

Alice could not rightly explain it to herself, much less to the queen. This sudden change in behavior was probably due to the current invasion of her mind by the man she loved. She knew that she loved him, well…almost knew. Alice glanced at Jack from inside her cage. He was purposefully not meeting her gaze. His fate was being decided as well right now.

After the pain he had caused her…Alice was not sure she could completely put her faith in another. She was not sure how much of her heart was left for someone else.

_I don't mind how much is left_,whispered Hatter's voice as if he was telling a secret in her ear.

"He won't be able to save you," said the queen misinterpreting Alice's glance at Jack.

Alice, however, was not thinking of Jack…but of Hatter.

She shrugged.

The queen believed that suddenly she had found the reason for Alice's behavior. She was still in love with Jack! Of course, there was no other cause for it.

"He's going to be killed," said the queen with a smile.

Alice shifted her full attention back to the queen. "What!?"

The queen's smile broadened. "He must be punished for what he's done."

Alice shook her head. "He has nothing to do with this!"

The ruler of Wonderland shook her head. "You little fool. He has _everything_ to do with this!"

"But he—" Alice began.

"Silence!" yelled the queen. "He will be executed in two hours, and you, my dear, shall be banished from Wonderland!"

Alice said nothing. She felt that she couldn't speak, move, or even breathe. She walked backwards into her cage until she felt the strong walls of her cage on her back. Alice slowly sat on the floor of her cage.

The queen closed the door of the cage and smiled. She walked back to the rest of the court and asked them all to leave. She then stepped out of the room herself and began walking through the halls. The queen ran into her lovely doctors Dee and Dum.

"Hello," said Dee.

"Enjoying the day?" asked Dum.

They both appeared nervous. The queen did not notice, she was pretty satisfied with herself and therefore could not see the misery in others.

It was one of her failings.

"Actually yes," replied the queen.

"How did Hatter's examination go?" asked the queen when Dee and Dum said nothing.

"Well," said Dee.

"We found his weakness and planted the poison," said Dum. He then held up a little bottle of liquid in his hand and swished it around.

"He will die," said Dum. "Due to his inability to overcome his self-doubts and insecurities about—"

The queen raised a brow. "Wait. You were supposed to let Mad March finish off that double-crosser, Hatter. Not take matters into your own tricky hands."

Dee shrugged. "It was such an opportune moment…we could not resist such temptation as a weakened man."

Dum looked at the little bottom in his hand lovingly. That little bottle was indeed poison, of a very deadly nature. It did not attack the human system on contact with the body, as some poisons did. Nor did it weaken the body over time and eventually kill the victim—that too, was too simple for the Wonderland madmen.

This little bottle collected and filled with all the self-doubts, misgivings, longings, and unrequited feelings that a body could feel…and then some. Hatter did not know that when the twins were giving him electric shocks they were injecting this into his body. They had used his pain and weakness which they saw from his visions of Alice's torture and mixed it into the potion that rested in the bottle that rested in Dum's loving hand.

Here was how things were: Hatter needed to find Alice. He not only needed to find her and save her from the queen's clutches, but he also had to defeat and break through the poisonous misgivings and uncertainties of Alice's feelings for him. His self doubts were wrapped up in that kiss he saw Alice and Jack share. That kiss represented their bond, their experiences, everything that Hatter had not shared with her.

If Hatter could not, as the twins were certain he never would be able, to tell Alice how he felt about her and if she did not say that she loved him back…_then_ Hatter would die.

The twins knew that Hatter would be able to defeat Mad March, perhaps in their combined evil brains they saw what would come. Besides, the twins enjoyed painful agonizing torture, a kind that Mad March did not use at all, despite much coaxing from the doctors. If Hatter had not escaped then he would have died from the agonizing loss of Alice and the twins' method of torture would be successful. It was a win, win situation for them, no matter what.

The queen studied the bottle in Dum's hand. She forced herself not to shudder as she hated emotions like longing or aching or…well anything bad basically.

She shrugged. "Well done."

The twins did not leave.

The Queen of Hearts raised a brow. "Is there something else you'd like to tell me?"

"We haven't heard back from Mad March," said Dee.

The ruler of Wonderland sighed. "He takes a while, you remember what he was like."

"But he likes to brag," Dum reminded his queen. "It has been longer than you think your majesty."

The queen closed her eyes. "You think he has escaped?"

Dum nodded.

"Are you saying that I have Hatter running loose in here?!" the queen bellowed.

"You said it yourself," said Dee quietly.

Dum kicked his brother for his retort.

"We suggest," said Dee wincing, "that you move the oyster out of the court chambers as soon as possible."

The queen raised a brow. "Why?"

"Kill two birds with one stone," said Dum.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Hatter is not going to try to leave the palace," said Dee.

The queen let out a deep breath of frustration. "If you don't explain what's going on then I am going to personally chop off both of your heads!"

"He's going to go in there," said Dum pointing to the doors to the chambers were Alice was being kept.

Before the queen could open her mouth Dee continued, "He thinks that she is in there. He's going to try to save her."

"Who?" asked the queen.

"The girl," said Dee. "Alice."

The queen chuckled. "How noble of him." Then she stopped and looked at the twins. "How does he know that she's in there?"

"We told him," said Dum nervously, "so that we could determine his weakness and then exploit it."

"What's the big deal if he comes in and she is there?" asked the queen.

"If he comes in and sees her and potentially saves her then…" began Dum.

"He won't die from the poison," said Dee. "Unless, after he saves her, he is convinced that she does not love him. Then he would still die."

The queen nodded. "That's a very interesting poison. You are right boys, we should move her, and immediately too. I think we'll have a surprise for dear Hatty when he arrives."

As the wicked ones of Wonderland were plotting, Alice sat in her circular cell and thought about Hatter. She closed her eyes to halt the tears in her eyes.

He was dead. Technically, she reminded herself, he wasn't dead now but he would be soon. He was now spending his last moments on earth…probably totally alone. Then again, so was she. Alice remembered how he had looked upon the horse, charging at the dozens of suits as if he was impenetrable. She remembered how he had tried to fight them off bravely and…was overtaken by them.

_Please,_ said the vision returning to her mind, _don't remember that part. It wasn't really my finest moment._

Alice smiled as a tear fell from her cheek.

_You're crying, _said his soothing voice mixed with sorrow and anger.

"You're gone," said Alice speaking to no one. "I miss you."

_I miss you too._

Alice opened her eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows and took off her right shoe. She threw it with all her might across the prison to the other side and watched it passively bounce off the wall and fall to the ground.

"I can't believe I'm talking to myself," said Alice to the empty space.

What she did not realize, what the queen and her clever doctors had not realized either, was that this was Wonderland. Things did not happen with order and with rules. Sometimes chaos caused order and order caused chaos. It is strange that in a land, where emotions could be collected and bought as a commodity, the inhabitants believed that things actually made sense.

For example, it made sense to the queen and her minions that the mind could be bent and twisted, as people in the real world know. The queen and her minions also knew that the mind could be crept into and played with as if it was a dollhouse. But the queen and her minions could not have understood what the mind can do, free of any bounds.

It could travel in day dreams, it could cause visions to appear that did not exist, and could connect with another similar mind.

How could the Queen of Hearts possibly understand the mind's connection? If the twins had realized that such a thing was possible in Wonderland, perhaps they would exploit such a discovery. But even with their combined evil genius, they could not fathom such an occurrence.

They were in control of Wonderland and all of its strangeness. Wonderland could not control itself; it had no mystical powers of its own. Such things could not happen in Wonderland.

But such things did happen in Wonderland.

_Occasionally._

At that moment, while Alice was sitting in her circular cage, thinking of Hatter, Hatter was thinking of her.

He had broken out of his torture and had begun to run through the palace aimlessly. But then he heard a voice. Hatter, begin open to his madness, decided to hide himself and then sit and listen to the voice.

The reason why he decided to do this was because he recognized the voice in his head. The voice belonged to Alice.

Hatter closed his eyes and leaned his back against the wall and reduced his breathing to a minimum. He was thankful for the boxes which hid him from the people walking along the hallway.

When he closed his eyes he not only heard her voice, but he saw her. It was slightly fuzzy, and skewed but it was definitely her.

He wanted to tell her at that moment that he loved her. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to be with her more than anything. But he was speaking to a voice in his head, a vision due to his longings and not a real person.

_Miss me? _He thought to the visionary creature.

To his amazement she nodded. Though, since he was controlling this vision she of course would nod as that was would he would want her to do.

The vision was so sad and lonely.

_Bad time? _Asked Hatter jokingly to the girl he could see but not touch.

Hatter watched as the vision of Alice shrugged but still said nothing.

_I can come back another time, _he suggested with his mind to the fabricated creation of his mind.

Hatter sighed as the girl shook her head. He could tell that she was crying.

_I'm coming for you, _he said. Though the more this went on, the more he felt like an idiot for speaking with his mind to the thin air. There was no voice, there was no Alice, there was just Hatter sitting dumbly being covered by a bunch of boxes.

To Hatter's surprise he watched the vision laugh. That was odd…very odd. If this was truly all in his head, she would not have been chuckling at that. This made him doubt himself, and he felt a sharp pain begin to form in his chest.

_No jokes, _he said to the vision seriously trying to convince her and himself he was not mad, _I'm going to save you from this. _

Suddenly the vision began to fade. Before she faded away completely Hatter could have sworn that he heard her say, "I wish you would."

Hatter opened his eyes and swallowed. He was not sure what had just happened. Hatter peered to make sure that the coast was clear. Then he stood up and continued running through the hallways of this hell. But he ran with confusion and pain. The pain was still a tight feeling his chest that was now reaching his arms. But the confusion was due to the strange vision…or whatever it was. Hatter wasn't sure.

He couldn't focus on the confusion as the pain began to increase. He was thinking about the torture that the twins had given him. He was seeing Jack and Alice…together in one ugly blur of…something.

Hatter had to stop running because the pain was increasing. The pain was very nearly breaking him. He found a wall and sank down to the floor. Hatter closed his eyes and let the pain completely devour him.

Or at least…it would have devoured him, if not for the sudden rush of memories he was suddenly experiencing one after the other like fireworks. They were all of him…but they were being viewed from a completely different angle. He was watching himself ride a horse towards a swarm of suits and try battling them before they eventually over took him.

He chuckled despite the pain. _Don't remember that, please._ As he spoke to his mind he saw the vision again. This was truly bizarre. _It wasn't my finest moment._

This had to be real. Hatter watched as he saw a tear fall from Alice's cheek. She had been crying, and greatly too because her eyes were red and watery. He couldn't believe that they had broken his strong, beautiful, and courageous Alice.

He wanted to comfort this vision, real or imaginary. He wanted to say something noble to her. And, for this moment his pain which had moments ago, assured him that these were his last minutes on earth, were beginning to evaporate.

Instead he said, _You're crying._

Hatter clearly heard her reply this time. _You're gone. I miss you._

Despite her words of sadness Hatter felt his heart beat quicken.

_I miss you too._

**Did anyone see that comming? what do you think? there are lots of things going on and i want to hear your thoughts on them...**


	3. Chapter 3

**hello all!!! thank you all for being so open about the way the last chapter went...because as someone said, its basically a halice mindmeld and i am glad that you all got behind it. So this switches back and forth and back and forth between POVs...there are lines in between them so it'll be easier to understand (beause i have a tendency of just going into another pov without really telling anyone but myself)--i hear that the dvd is coming march 2nd!!! mad march!!! yay!!!**

**Chapter Three Dreamers and Liars**

She heard the stomping of the queen's feet on the hard floor. But she did not look up instead choosing to remain with her eyes closed and her head resting on her arms which were resting on her knees.

"Get up!" said the harsh voice abruptly.

Alice did not move. She remained in her hibernation.

_If you want to move me again, _she thought. _If you want to torture me again, remind me AGAIN that in a few minutes I'm going to lose the man I love, or kill me, then you're going to need to physically pick me up!_

Alice Hamilton was rarely ever so full of fury and anger.

This was one of those rare moments.

"You're going to leave Wonderland," said the queen.

"Wouldn't you rather kill me?" asked Alice talking into her arms and still refusing to look at the queen. "Wouldn't that give you more satisfaction?"

She was trying to sound brave, and act like she feared nothing. But it was a different story inside of the tormented girl.

_I never got to say goodbye to him._

Alice had realized that, not only had she gotten Hatter killed, or as good as killed, but he had no reason to try to save her. She had acted terribly to him by choosing to follow Jack…but he had told her something that put her system into near shock.

_You're better off with this guy._

_Believe me. _

Alice had been replaying those two sentences in her mind over and over and over again while in the abominable cage.

"Just get up," sighed The Queen of Hearts. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

_Don't you think you've already hurt me?_

Alice, despite her inward anger obliged the queen and turned around to face her intruder. She stood up and looked straight into the queen's cold eyes.

"Yes?"

"Like I said," repeated the queen, "you're to be banished from Wonderland."

"And like I said," repeated Alice just as somberly as the queen, "wouldn't you like to just kill the oyster and have done with it?"

"I make the rules and decisions here," yelled the queen.

"Now you do," said Alice under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"I said," yelled Alice, "you're the one in charge now, now you can reign without any threat to your power, because of that ring. But before, when I had the ring, you probably feared every step that you treaded…I wish I could have seen that."

The Queen of Hearts was not used to anyone talking to her like this, not her minions, her husband, or her son; so certainly, she would not have a human girl talk to her like this. She just had to remind the child who was in charge, who was in control, ring or no ring.

She decided to take a different tactic, one very similar to what the twins had done earlier.

"He's going to his death as we speak you know," said the queen.

Alice's eyes widened.

"Soon, very soon, we shall hear a lovely cry of pain from the next room," said the queen holding her ear out to listen better.

In truth the queen had not ordered the death of her son that moment, nor had she ordered Hatter who was still running against time and poison through the palace searching for Alice. In truth the queen had been planning to execute one of her suits for a couple of weeks and this date was the date of his beheading. So, though the two did hear a slice and a cry of anguish from another room, the lifeless body belonged to a nameless man.

Alice, obviously, did not know that.

She shuddered when she heard, what she believed, was her love's last moments on earth. She then hugged herself and suddenly realized she was extremely cold.

Her stomach began to ache.

That was when she realized it wasn't her stomach, but her heart.

The queen smiled. "That felt good."

Alice shook her head. "You are a cruel queen."

The accused cruel queen shrugged. "I am what I am."

The queen suddenly snapped her fingers and three suits walked into the room, opened Alice's cage, grabbed her by the arms, and then began to shuffle her out of the room.

She, the black-belt, tried to struggle from their grasps. On a normal day, when she could do anything and everything, Alice would have escaped from their clutches easily. But today there was something holding her back. It was almost like she lost the will to struggle, or at least to struggle with a purpose.

The Queen of Hearts waved at the oyster who was soon going to return home. The queen looked back at the cage. She noticed something odd there…she noticed a shoe.

The shoe was obviously Alice's, and it had been angrily thrown earlier by the owner in a desperate attempt to break from her prison. Alice had not put the shoe back on and had been dragged out of the room without noticing its presence.

Or perhaps she didn't care anymore.

The queen's first instinct was to burn the shoe. If Alice, the human oyster, who had seen too much, was truly going to be eradicated from Wonderland, then every part of her had to be erased. The Queen would not allow her presence or her memory to evoke such an uprising that would bring down the entire deck of cards. This Alice was not like the Alice of Legend; anyway the queen would prevent any legendary doings before they even began.

The queen's second instinct was to leave the shoe exactly where it was, just laying in wait for the right opportune moment to strike.

Not that the shoe would do any attacking on its own, but it was about to be used for purposes that the manufacturer did not intend at all.

But, then again, the manufacturer could never have guessed that this shoe would wind up in Wonderland and into the Queen of Heart's evil clutches.

The queen smiled at the shoe and then closed the cage door closed. She then thought better of it and opened the cage door. She walked to the other side of the room and sat down on her throne. As she sank into her chair and took a sip of a glass of "pleasure", she smiled to herself and waited.

It was not long before Hatter ran into the room. He was out of breath and nearly collapsed on the floor. The queen did not move from the chair. She sipped another dose of "pleasure," and watched the love sick man crumble.

Hatter was sweating and panting. His shirt was torn in many different places and the skin underneath the holes was stained with blood. He also had a fair amount of cuts and bruises on his face. Hatter still had his hat though, that had to count for something.

"I've been expecting you," said the queen.

* * *

The suits walked Alice down long corridors and hallways in complete silence. She gave up struggling three hallways ago. The suits, though pretty mindless creatures of the queen, thought this behavior was sort of odd. Most were worried that she was going to try something when they weren't paying attention.

But two thought otherwise.

They walked behind the men who were holding Alice.

"She's giving up," one whispered to the other. His tone outwardly remained emotionless. But he was shaken by the oyster's downcast eyes and zombie like steps.

His friend nodded. "Perhaps already has."

"Shut up!" whispered the one in charge to the suits lagging in the back.

"Maybe he's right," whispered the second to the first. "We probably should just shut up."

But the first who noticed that she was giving up, could not so easily let go of his interest in the oyster who seemed to fear nothing anymore. He was used to dealing with mindless oysters before, but the oysters had always been made mindless by the techniques of the carpenter and others. If the oysters ever "woke up" then they were always restless, worried, fragile things.

This one, this girl, was not at all like those.

This particular suit, Four of diamonds, had always sort of had second thoughts about his government and his queen. The suit who had been beheaded today was his friend, Eight of diamonds, and though Four had been told that Eight was killed for disloyalty, Four was not so sure.

Four looked at the oyster and sighed. He noticed something odd…she only had one shoe on.

* * *

"You've been expecting me?" gasped Hatter looking up at the queen with blood shot eyes.

The queen nodded. "You're right on time actually."

"Where is she?!" yelled Hatter. "What have you done with her?"

The queen of all Wonderland smiled at Hatter and stood up. She put down her glass on the little table next to her throne. She then walked towards the shaken man and extended her hand to the cage. "Have a look for yourself."

Hatter slowly stood up to his full height. He had not realized how much effort it took for him to just rise up.

The queen beamed at the dying man. _The twins are brilliant. I should probably give them a raise…maybe not._

The queen nodded towards the cage. "Come to your conclusions."

Hatter stared at the open cage where his Alice had been held prisoner. He then spotted on object lying in the cage. He raised a brow, with much strain. The little pain in his stomach, which had calmed down because of his vision of Alice, was back and in full force. Hatter was thinking of anything and everything that could have happened to Alice. He was too scared to admit any of these theories to himself, or say them aloud. He figured that such an admittance of loss would probably be the thing that killed him.

The queen thought so too. "That's her shoe you know."

"I know what her shoe looks like," Hatter coughed and winced. He thought his voice was stronger than that.

"Do you want to look at it closer?" suggested the queen sweetly.

"Do I _what_?"

"Do you want to have a look at the shoe? After all, it's probably the only thing you'll be left with to remember her by."

Hatter tried to take a sharp intake of breath. He found that he was running out of oxygen. The room was not diminishing in oxygen, but his lungs were just refusing to accept anymore. What his lungs longed for, what his system, and body, and heart longed for, was to breathe _her _in.

"What are you talking about?" he asked weakly.

The queen looked at the sad pathetic shadow of a man who stood before her. She remembered a time when people of Wonderland used to have a fearful respect for Hatter. A tiny smile formed on the corners of her lips…she had definitely put a stop to that time.

Or, more correctly, the twins had put a stop to it.

"Tell me where she is!" he bellowed though it took practically of his stored energy and he was close to exhaustion.

"Fine," said the queen. Before she told him anything she walked into the cage, picked up the shoe, and then walked back out of the cage and put it in front of Hatter on the floor.

Though some dictators and evil rulers would probably have gasped and turned away in fright at what the queen had done, by taking such a risk as going into an open cage with an enemy around, the queen knew that Hatter had no strength. He would not use his final drops of energy to shut the door on the queen's cage.

It wasn't Hatter's style anyway.

"She left with Jack," said the queen.

"Jack?" repeated Hatter with a shaky breath of disbelief. "No…that's not possible." It couldn't be possible Hatter reasoned, he had talked with her…she had said she…that she…

_That she missed me._

Hatter shivered.

"It gets worse," said the queen maintaining a straight face. "See, Jack works for me…he doesn't really love the girl you know. He left with her, feeding her some story about how he always loved her, or something like that. And then, then, he killed her."

Hatter's eyes widened. He looked straight into the queen's unblinking eyes. "Killed her?"

"Killed her?"

"You sure it wasn't a different oyster?"

The Queen of Hearts shook her head. "Alice."

"Alice," whispered Hatter.

_My Alice._

"If you had come a little earlier…" the queen began.

"I might have been able to save her?" asked Hatter.

"You might have been able to hear her screams," finished the queen ruthlessly.

Morality was a rare gift in Wonderland.

Hatter shook when she said that. This was exactly what the twins had shown him. He had been shown this reality that made absolutely no sense, but it all had come from his mind, it was his fault that he watched the scenes unfold as they did. He had assumed that such thoughts were only in his mind and were not reality. And for a moment, Hatter tried to make himself believe that this too, was not reality. He would wake up in a minute, in a second, and he would be back in the forest, or in the tea shop, or the library.

But then, then he looked down at the shoe. It was her real shoe, from her world, from his reality.

"Take it," said the queen.

Hatter picked up the shoe as every joint in his body ached with pain but his heart seemed to ache greatest of all.

He refused to look at the shoe, or the queen, or anything else anymore.

"I suggest you leave," said the queen.

"What?" asked Hatter whose mind was somewhere else.

"Leave now," repeated the queen, "and I won't kill you."

"Why don't you just kill me now?" asked Hatter.

_Don't you think you've already hurt me?_

The queen shook her head. "I think we both know that you don't have much time in this earth Hatter. And I think we both know, that I like to see my victims suffer before death. Killing you know just destroys all the joy I would have watching you die."

Hatter said nothing.

"Leave," repeated the queen.

And Hatter left. With the shoe in hand he turned around and walked out of the room. The queen sighed with happiness. She crossed her arms and blissfully looked at the cage which, though was empty now, would probably not remain so for long.

Hatter, for his part, left the queen a shattered man. He no longer cared who saw him walk down the hallways, or corridors. He was not sneaking or running anymore. There was no point anymore.

He tried to comfort himself. He tried to remind himself that the girl had been a pain at his side, how she had yelled at him, hurt him, and eventually had left him twice for Jack. He would find someone else. He could find someone whose skin would not be marked by the strong light of Wonderland. He could find someone whose eyes did not glow so brightly or beautifully when she was happy. He could find someone whose smile did not captivate the world so that the sun turned in shame. He could find someone else…

Hatter found himself walking down a long and deserted corridor. He found himself suddenly hugging Alice's shoe in a somewhat one-sided embrace. His strength was fading, and fading quickly. He slumped against the nearest wall and began to sink downwards, uncertain of whether he'd rise up again.

He closed his eyes and tried to find his visionary creature…

* * *

"Do you mind if we rest for a minute?" asked Alice who was weary from this forced march. The suits shrugged and halted in their places. There was an change of arrangements where the men who had been holding her went to the back, and the ones who did not went to walk with her.

Among these suits who were now entrusted to stay with her was Four of Diamonds. He felt nervous approaching the broken and battered creature. He went to her side and looked at her. She did look very dead inside.

"You can sit down," he said to her quietly. "We're a bit tired too."

Alice nodded and sat down against the wall. Four of Diamonds sat across from her and watched as the other suits around him also took seats and began chatting with each other idly. Four of Diamonds looked at Alice sympathetically.

"What are you looking at?" asked Alice.

"I've never seen a live oyster…I mean…someone of your kind before," he said.

Alice shrugged. "We all look pretty much the same." She held up her tattooed arm to show him.

"I'm sorry," said Four.

Alice raised a brow. "What?"

Four shook his head. "Nothing, just get some rest or something."

Alice closed her eyes, not needing to be told twice and thought of her man with his lovely signature hat.

But, instead of a happy image in her mind she saw Hatter sitting in a long dark hallway just like she was sitting in now. He was breathing heavily.

_You're just in time, _she heard him say.

_For what? _she asked him in her mind.

_I thought you could see me off, _said her vision angrily, _what with you being…you know…_

_What are you talking about? _Alice asked dumfounded.

Alice watched Hatter chuckle and then break into a mad fit of coughing. He looked like he was sweating and as if the wall behind him was the only thing holding him up. Like he would fall without its support…

And for the second time, Alice's heart began to break.

_You look in pain, _she said.

_Good guess, _he replied angrily.

Alice shook her head. _You're not supposed to be in pain anymore. That's supposed to be over for you now. Freedom Hatter, I thought you wanted freedom._

She heard him laugh bitterly. _So this was your brilliant idea?_

_No! _she yelled angrily. She could not believe how cruel he was…how angry he was…it was almost like this was real. But that kind of mutual connection was impossible, everyone knew that.

_You left with him to give me freedom? _Hatter asked her. She watched him slowly sinking down the wall. His hat was barely staying upon his head. Another move and it would fall to the floor beside him.

_You mean Jack? _

_Yeah I mean Jack. _

Alice began to sob. _You're not supposed to be angry anymore._

_And you're not supposed to be sad anymore, _said her vision sympathetically seeing her tears roll down her cheeks.

More tears rolled down her cheeks. _The only way I could force myself to be happy again was to think that you'd be safe finally. That I wouldn't have to worry about you anymore because you'd finally reached peace._

_Peace? _Hatter began obviously confused, _Wait…go back…you worry about me?_

The girl blushed. _But that doesn't matter anymore._

_I know, _said Hatter quietly, though for a different reason than the girl.

_I miss you, _said Alice.

Hatter shook his head. _But you went off with Jack…and he…_

_What are you talking about? _

_You know what he did to you, _breathed Hatter though it was clear he had no more breath in him. _Your cries…_

_My what?_

_The Queen said…_Hatter began and then he couldn't finish.

Suddenly things were beginning to make sense in Alice's head, though she still understood so little.

_Hatter? _Alice asked her vision uncertainly, _Where are you?_

_I'm dying, _he answered somberly.

_You can't be dying, _she said, _you're dead._

Alice saw Hatter give a soft chuckle. _Alice…_

Alice watched as Hatter's hat fell off his head and sank to the floor. The vision suddenly ended and Alice opened her eyes.

Her heart was pounding.

**WHATS ALICE GONNA DO NOW???? hmmmm**


	4. Chapter 4

**good to be back! it just feels freeing to write sometimes, sometimes its the only thing that makes sense...but that's too deep. Anyway I'd like to point out that when this story started i intended it to be a one shot...complete oneshot...but now its become so much bigger than i ever thought possible-in a really good way. Thank you all who've read this and commented because your responces keep me writing! shout out to lettingyourheartwin, Liisa (yay!) melabae Leighabeth and more who favorited this story which was never supposed to be so big! **

**note: much sad music was listened to in the making of this chapter**

**Disclaimer: I own 0 % of Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carol's books or Syfy version. Sadly....**

**Chapter Four: Fake Reality**

_Alice…_

The first thing Alice saw when she opened her eyes, was one of the suits, Four of Diamonds staring at her strangely.

Alice's first instinct was to give him a quick jab in the chest and be on her way. She noticed that the other suits were dozing or not paying attention, only this one was actually looking at her.

But he wasn't staring at her angrily, or as if she was a creature that belonged in a cage, but as a person of flesh and blood. It was as if he sympathized with her.

"What are you looking at?"

Four raised a brow. "You weren't intentionally doing that with your mouth?"

"Doing what?" Alice asked.

Though as she spoke here with this suit, she knew, or at least guessed, that somewhere Hatter was only just holding on and needed her.

"Your mouth was moving," said Four noticing Alice's anxious pose, "but you weren't saying anything. It was like you were dreaming but…what's wrong?"

"I need to go," said Alice in a whisper. She was not sure why she was putting her faith in the hands of one of the men assigned to take her back home.

Four blinked. "You think I can just let you go?"

Alice shook her head. "I need you to let me go. Please a man's life depends on it…I think."

"You think!?" Four asked in a loud whisper. "I could get my head chopped off for letting you do this, and you_ think _that you could save a man's life?"

"If you wanted to stop me," said Alice. "If you really wanted to stop me, then you wouldn't have let our conversation go on for this long. You'd have already alerted the others. You doubt your queen don't you?"

Four nodded. "A little."

"Then help me," pleaded Alice who was already rising to her feet. "Let me leave without giving me away."

Four thought about this girl's proposition. He couldn't possibly see it working out in his interests one bit. If the girl ran and he was left here to pick up her mess, then they would blame him for letting her go…the queen would not be happy. However, if he did speak out and tell others that she was trying to escape, he would never forgive himself. Four was not in the Resistance. Four had never even had remotely resistance-like thought, at least, none that he would ever admit to. Yet, there were strange things happening in Wonderland. This girl had brought change, or would bring change; Four was smart enough to know that.

"I want to help you," he said at last.

Alice did a double take. "What?"

"I'll let you go," said Four, "but I want to help you, help your cause."

Alice bit her lip. She was glad of the support, no matter where it came from. But she kept seeing _his face_ in her mind. She thought of how his eyes had flickered and then closed. She thought of how his head had started sinking downward and downward…

_Hatter, hold on._

"Do you know anything about someone named Hatter, who might be here?" asked Alice trying to remain calm. Saying his name, letting it flow through her lips, was enough to make her weak in the knee.

Four stood up as well. "I know who he is," he said maintaining the whisper, "and I knew that he was here. I'm not sure where."

"If you were the queen," said Alice in a somewhat calm voice, "where would you put someone like Hatter?"

Four thought for a minute. "In the hands of the twins, or Mad March."

Alice shivered when he mentioned the twins. "Thanks. I have to go."

With that Alice ran off, leaving Four alone with his thoughts, and a bunch of dozing, zoned out suits. The more Four looked at the mindless drones that were at the queen's every beck and call, the more he knew, knew from the bottom of his heart, that he no longer wanted to be one. For years he had been dedicated to the queen's service, he had been given a suit to follow, and a name to answer to. But he was completely through with that.

He took off his suit jacket where his title and name were stitched on, and let it fall to the ground. He then took a deep breath and ran off in the opposite direction that Alice had run. The man who ran was Four of Diamonds no longer. He was now Eric Browning. He would remain Eric Browning from this point onwards. Eric, for his first adventure as a new man, was going to gather the other suits who he knew where doubtful and raise an army against the queen.

If an oyster could bring this much change in one man, perhaps she _could_ bring down the entire deck of cards. And, if an oyster could be this brave, why not a suit named Eric Browning?

Meanwhile, while Eric ran free of shackles, Hatter lay motionless in mental shackles along the hallway. He could no longer move. He had no wish to move, not even to retrieve his hat which lay pitifully right beside his side. Suddenly he heard a movement of feet. He kept his eyes closed and listened to the feet move closer and closer to his side.

"Hatter?" a girl's voice asked.

Suddenly Hatter's heart began to beat, a very little, but beat it did nonetheless. Hatter's eyes opened slowly and before him stood a tall, blonde girl, in a yellow dress. Hatter scowled—the Duchess.

He closed his eyes.

_I wish I was dead already._

"I have a message for you," said the Duchess coldly.

"Bringing me to Hell are you?" Hatter mumbled.

The Duchess scoffed. "You wish. I have a message from the twins. They wanted me to tell you, thank you for destroying their competition, thank you for being an excellent lab rat, and now they're going to use this poison on the rest of their victims."

"Why didn't they just come to tell me this themselves," asked Hatter quietly, "why send you? I'm sure you're very busy at the moment."

The Duchess, indeed, was very busy at the moment. This mission was her last mission with the government and with the Queen of Hearts. After this mess, she was going to find wherever they were keeping her Jack, and then run off with him. Everything had to go according to plan…

She looked down at Hatter's near lifeless body. Some people would have to suffer, that was what the queen had told her in the beginning. The Queen of Hearts always believed that for there to be any prosperity in this world, some people were going to have to suffer.

The Duchess hated sayings.

The Duchess hated the queen.

In fact the Duchess was sure that she hated most things in this horrid place, except for Jack. If she had to hurt Hatter a little, work with the creepy twins, and please the queen, in order to be with Jack, then so be it.

If Hatter was not in his current state of mind, where the world seemed like it was likely to collapse around him in any second, then it was very likely he would have agreed with the Duchess' personal decisions. After all, he had willingly put himself in a similar position for someone that he loved very much. In order for Alice to have prosperity, or any chance of hope, he had put himself in harm's way, and was dearly suffering.

At this point, he was doubtful that anything could get much worse. Alice was gone, he would be fading away in a couple of minutes, and his last minutes were to be witnessed by the Duchess.

But in Wonderland, horror was not just done, but overdone. Horrible things did not just happen, they happened with extremes.

The twins might not have understood about connections between two minds that were so alike. The twins might not have been able to come up with a formula for how two hearts collide. But they knew how to change identities and mix potions to confuse the mind. Oh yes, they knew how to do that well.

"They came," whispered the Duchess stepping aside.

Hatter heard footsteps go and then come. These footsteps felt very familiar on the floor of the unfamiliar and dark hallway.

"Hatter?" said a familiar voice.

This voice was not just simply the voice of a girl, but the voice of a very particular girl. Yet Hatter did not open his eyes. This was all too familiar for him. He was so close to death…

"Hatter?!" the voice was more concerned now.

Hatter lifted one eye. There, standing before the sunken man, stood a man and a woman. One looked like Alice. She wore Alice's dress, her leggings, shoes, and had her hairstyle. The man looked like he could have been Jack's double. He wore Jack's clothes, had his hair, facial structure, everything to make the casual observer believe Jack Heart was standing at that spot.

The Duchess, however, was not fooled by the fake Jack.

"Alice?" Hatter whispered hopefully who let his eyes linger on the girl.

The Duchess, for her part, stood off to the side and watched this uncomfortable scene unfold. The queen had said something to her before giving her this mission.

_What was it again?_

Oh, that's right…the Duchess remembered now.

_If I do not make my victims suffer then the world would turn into a hopeless anarchy where everyone can do whatever he wants, without threat of punishment._

The Duchess rolled her eyes. She, however, was not allowed to say anything bad about the queen right now. If she was allowed, there would be much that she had to say.

Not that she was ever allowed to speak her mind.

The Duchess, knowing the twins' plans, did feel sympathetic to the pitiful broken man lying helplessly on the floor.

But, no one, not even the Duchess, could have understood the shattered man's pain upon seeing Alice and Jack staring down at him.

Jack and Alice began to slowly move closer and closer together. They took each other's hands. Hatter watched their fingers intertwine together. It made Hatter sick.

"You're alive?" he whispered, though he did not believe it.

Alice shrugged. The twins had flipped a coin to determine who would play which part. Dee had chosen to make Hatter really wish he was dead—and chose to play Alice. He tried to hide a giggle. This was a good game which he and his brother should have arrived at sooner.

"Yes," he answered sounding exactly like Alice.

Hatter gasped for breath. "Jack?" He could not believe it. "But I thought?"

"What?!" asked Dum, playing Jack brilliantly so that it made the Duchess shudder. "Did you ever think that you would win Hatter?"

Hatter said nothing.

"Did you honestly think that she could ever love someone like you?" Jack bent down and so that his eyes were level with Hatter's eyes.

If Hatter was in possession of a few ounces of strength, he would have noticed that there was something not quite right with this situation. He would have noticed that, despite Jack's stern stance, his eyes were dancing too frantically. Dum could not hide the excitement in his eyes participating in this little play with his brother.

But…Hatter was not in great possession of anything at that moment, except for misery. Except for loads and loads of misery which were threatening to beat him to death.

"Hatter," said the familiar voice of the girl he had given his heart and life to.

Hatter turned to look at her.

Dee, as Alice, also bent down beside his brother. Dee, with Alice's fingers, touched Hatter's cheek, and his locks of hair.

Hatter expected that he would feel a burning when she touched him, instead he felt nothing. Her touch, which normally should have warmed his heart, soul, and essence, felt like the fingers of death.

The Duchess turned away. She could not take much more of this.

Hatter did not have that kind of luck. He was confined like a prisoner, to his current state. He could not move, could not think, except about the pain coursing through his body at this sight of Jack and Alice.

"Hatter listen to me," said Alice. "I've chosen Jack. I love Jack. I'm going to marry Jack."

The Duchess, hearing this, shook her head.

_They are too good. There is such a thing as being too good at one's job._

Hatter shook his head. It took every bit of strength in him to do so.

"No." It came in a whisper. "No…"

"It's true," said Jack putting an arm around Alice. "All true."

Hatter closed his eyes. He could not face looking at his nightmares and knowing that they were morphing into reality before his eyes.

"Have a nice death," whispered Alice with mocking kindness.

"How could you have ever imagined a world," said Jack so clearly that it was as if it was already in Hatter's head, "where she chose you? What are you? Who are you? Hatter?"

"Why do they even call you Hatter?"

_Why do they call me Hatter?_

Hatter, in his last touches of memory, of rich, untouched, un-battered, memory thought of a girl in a wet dress who had entered the tea shop. He had asked the soaking girl the same question. She had looked him up and down, raised a brow and spoke.

"Because you wear a hat?"

Hatter said it aloud. He had not meant to, for the memory was his own precious oxygen. He was not trying to answer the question. But, in his slightly skewed and disappearing state of reality he had spoken Alice's reply.

Despite the fact that it was an odd reply. Despite the fact that it made the fake Alice, fake Jack, and real Duchess turn to look at Hatter. Despite the fact that the woman he loved seemed to be killing him with kindness and he was to die in any moment. Despite all those meaningless facts, her words were the first spoken aloud that reached Hatter's ears and actually brought warmth into his system.

He was able to recover feeling in his fingers and realized that he still gripped Alice's shoe. He strengthened the tender hold on the last beautiful object in his life and opened one eye.

Hatter noticed that the Alice standing before him…had two shoes.

* * *

The real Alice ran down hallways and corridors with only one shoe on her foot. She did not pay attention to her shoeless foot as she sailed onwards. Alice was not exactly sure how to maneuver her way through this long and winding maze.

There were only a couple of things she knew for certain.

She loved Hatter.

_That's only one._

Okay, so maybe there was only one thing she knew for absolute certain. There were other pieces of the riddle that she could only guess at. First, she was not completely certain that Hatter had died. The queen, Alice realized, was not the most reliable source of truth. And, her visions of Hatter, her conversations with him in her mind…why did they have to be all in her head?

This was Wonderland right? Things were incapable of being black and white. There were shades of grey, and intermixed with textures of green, blue, gold…with anything!

So nothing was absolute.

_Except death._

That did make the heroine shiver. She was not so sure that Hatter was dead, but also not so sure that Hatter was alive.

The twins would know.

Alice, despite her resolve, did not want to bring about another visit with the twin doctors. But, at the same time….

At the same time she was strong. At the same time she was renewed with confidence. The conversation she had had with Hatter, real or imaginary, had given her bravery. A bravery that she had only read about in books and dreamt about in her imagination.

Along the way of Alice's run she found convenient signs pointing towards the twins' multi laboratories. Alice stopped running to focus on the signs which seemed to have shorter and shorter distances to her destination.

Suddenly Alice found herself looking at a huge window. It was a window into a room that was born, surely, from childhood nightmares and horror. It was a room, if you could call it that. Green goo seemed to float around the entire room, yet it stuck to nothing. Next to the huge window was a sign which read: Examination Room.

Alice was sure that this was a part of the twins' labs.

She looked through the glass and tried to spy a door leading into the room. Yet there was none. Alice sighed and closed her eyes. She kept picturing Hatter's face and his closed eyes and his….his hat…

That just about did it.

Alice slammed her fists against the glass window and it shattered into a million pieces. Her fingers were a bit bloody but she didn't care or think about it as she stepped through the glass into the room.

She could tell that there had been some sort of a struggle. There was a chair which lay on its side. Alice, with her ever moving eyes, followed drops of blood from the chair, towards the other side of the room where another window, which did not look out, was broken and smashed brutally.

Alice looked back at the way she had entered. The remaining pieces of glass, showed only more of the room, but not any window. To someone being questioned, to someone who sat in the chair, there looked as though no escape was possible.

Yet…Alice noted…there was an escape made.

Her heart beat a little bit stronger.

She heard groaning a little ways off in another room. Alice nervously followed the source of the groans to another room, which was completely white. The groans, were not from her beloved, but from the man with the white rabbit head, who had been sent to destroy her.

Mad March looked up at the girl who had been so difficult to capture.

There was a lot of blood surrounding the resurrected man.

He was just barely alive.

Alice normally would have winced at the blood, or at the cold, cookie jar, face, of her assassin. Yet Alice was in Wonderland. She didn't have time for normal.

"Where is he?" she shouted loudly at the dying man.

"Who?" whispered Mad March.

"Hatter!" yelled Alice. "What did you do with him?"

"I'm about to die," moaned the unfortunate killer, "and you're interested in the man with the hat?"

Alice didn't answer.

"What's he to you?" he gasped.

Alice said nothing.

"Silence?" chocked the killer. "You are the last face I shall ever see on this earth, and you are giving me silence?"

Alice shook her head. "You'd have done same for me if you had the chance."

To her surprise Mad March shook his head. "I was after you only because of the queen's command. I really wanted to get Hatter, to destroy him."

"Why?" Alice asked.

"Knowing that I'd taken you," wheezed the man whose head was a cookie jar, "would have killed him."

Alice let her fingers become fists.

"Why do you want to destroy him?" Alice asked.

March cocked his head to one side. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I barely touched him," said March after there was silence.

Alice hoped he would go on.

He did.

"But I knew," gasped March, "I knew that as he sat in that chair, staring me down, he had already been tampered and played with."

"Played with?" asked Alice, whose heart began to beat so loudly that it echoed the entire room. "What do you mean 'played with'?"

"Any good killer knows," said March, "that a man's mind can easily be warped and twisted so that it becomes his greatest enemy. All you need to learn, is how to go about beginning the process. If he is a strong man, like our boy Hatty, then it takes a great amount of time and effort to prick his weak points."

"His weak points," murmured Alice. "Like what?"

"Could be anything," said the learned master of murder. "It depends on the man. Everyone has different weak points. You need to find them, and then poke them until they bleed."

Alice was silent.

"And they always do," whispered Mad March.

"What?" asked Alice.

"Bleed," he answered.

"The twins," said Alice. "The twins hurt him."

Mad March nodded. "I wanted to see what they had done to him to make him so fiery yet so pained so I dragged myself into this room. They record everything in this room that is done in that room." He motioned to the room that Alice had just entered from.

Alice looked around the room. "But there's nothing in here."

"This is a special room," said Mad March. "You can't ask for things in this room, and devices or tools are magically brought to your side. Every camera in here is currently resting someplace else."

"What place?" asked the girl though she could guess March's next words.

"In your mind," said Mad March turning away from the girl in the blue dress.

"You know that you've been helping me," said Alice. "Why?"

Mad March said nothing for some time. Alice could have almost sworn that she had heard a tear hit the cold white surface of the jar.

"This room makes you think," said Mad March quietly. "If you dare to tamper with the twins' equipment, as I just was, you will see many things that have been done in this room. They will frighten you, chill your very bones, and shake your soul. It is not so awe inspiring to watch one's victims scream for the second time little oyster."

"Besides," said Mad March, "I owe him something, after all this time."

"What?" asked Alice.

"Have a very merry unbirthday," whispered the killer.

And, at that moment, his soul was gone, for the second, and last time.

Alice was left alone in the white room.

**What's gonna happen now??? On second note--i'm regetting bringing the duchess in as she has no real help for the plot...and yes i did sort of bring up hatter's past (which i will hopefully make more clear in the next few chapters or next story...maybe...hehe) tell me what you think!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Happy friday to everyone! Happy beginning of the Winter Olympics I'm totally excited. Now my note: so this was a really fun chapter to write because of a the multiple view points that are explored...yay love POVs. Also you've probably noticed that I havent brought in Alice's dad-i was thinking about maybe just pretending that he wasnt part of this. Is that okay with you? I just think it'll work out better without papa hamilton. Shout out to A Terrible Beauty who thanfully decided to come out of hibernation to review my story! Shout out to Liisa, my friend as i cannot make you a vid, i would love to make you a story (you name it i'll write it). Thank you to Anne Wentworth and BlackxValentine, and Trish47 for your constant support and reviews! **

**Dislclaimer: I own none of these characters (except for Eric Browning sorta) but i do own the happiness when i watch Alice on Syfy**

**Chapter 5: Unmarked Time**

There are no clocks in Wonderland. There is no need of such silly devices when everything moves in its own motion and with its own inward clock. There is no way to track time.

There was no precise time when Mad March's soul escaped from his body. In Alice's world doctors always seemed to want to know the exact time of death of a patient. In Alice's world there would be people who would take the body, care for it, and clean it from all signs of death. In Alice's world there would be a mound of earth and a casket lowering the lifeless body into the ground.

But Alice was not in her world where people were commanded by time, clocks, or even death. Alice was in Wonderland.

Things were different.

But there was one thing that was the same. Even though these people of Wonderland bought and guzzled emotions, they did feel.

Alice knew, as she stared at the corpse, that somewhere, in this strange land, there was someone who had once felt for the rabbit faced killer. There had been a mother, a father…

For those who felt, the oyster shed tears.

For the time that would march on without Mad March, Alice shed tears.

Just as quickly as she had cried, did she wipe her tears away and take a deep breath. There were riddles that needed to be solved. There were still questions without answers.

Hatter was out there…

Alice stood straight to her full height and remembered what March had told her.

_You can't ask for things in this room, and devices or tools are magically brought to your side. Every camera in here is currently resting someplace else._

_What place?_

_In your mind._

Alice looked sadly at March's body. She was about to think, in her mind, of some way to safely remove his body, when suddenly she noticed something odd happening.

The body in question was beginning to disappear. She did not take her eyes away from the body until it was completely gone…and so too did the blood fade away.

Alice blinked.

_Did I do that?_

She would not know for certain unless she tried to command something else with her thoughts.

Alice closed her eyes and saw the blackness that lay behind her eyelids.

_I need to see the video records of…_

What was that gooey room called? Was there a name for such a horrid place? Alice then recalled something else the killer had whispered to her.

I_f you dare to tamper with the twins' equipment, as I just was, you will see many things that have been done in that room. They will frighten you, chill your very bones, and shake your soul._

There was only one name for a room that could bring forth all of those physical feelings at once.

Torture room.

_I need to see the video records of the torture room._

Alice opened her eyes and saw no change at all.

Nothing.

The room was just as white as it was before Alice had closed her eyes.

Alice kicked at the ground with her shoeless foot. She winced at the pain.

Alice shook off her pain and closed her eyes again.

_I need to see the video records of the torture room…please?_

Alice opened her eyes for the second time and was again, confronted with a white empty space. Alice sighed with frustration and bit her lip. What had she done with Mad March?

Her eyes hadn't been closed, if anything, they were looking intently, almost painfully, at the body before it disappeared.

Inspired with new confidence Alice stared at one of the walls of the room as intently as possible. She had been taught this level of concentration when she practiced karate.

_I need to see the video records of the torture room! NOW!_

Before her eyes the wall began to change and shift. Though she was a little frightened she did not blink her eyes and kept her energy focused on the wall. Alice was confronted with a giant screen that was somehow kept upright. It was a completely black screen, until Alice stepped closer. She was confronted with an image of herself.

She stared at herself and her image stared back but did not hold the same pose at all. Alice knew this because she was approaching slowly while the mirror Alice seemed to be at the mirror the entire time. The mirror Alice was also fixing her hair and smiling.

The real Alice knew that she was definitely not smiling.

The mirror Alice also began to speak.

"You think you're brave enough to do this?" asked the Alice behind the glass screen.

Alice pointed to herself. "Are you talking to me?"

"See anyone else here?" asked the identical image angrily.

Alice shook her head.

"You don't want to do this," said her double.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

The other Alice smiled viciously and shrugged. "Really? You don't know? I'm with you constantly, every day…and you have no idea who I am?"

Alice thought again about what Mad March had told her.

_If you dare to tamper with the twins' equipment…_

_If you dare...._

He said it as if it was a challenge. And, Alice realized, he meant that it was a real challenge. The twins were not about to let just anyone use their equipment and devices. Anyone could enter this room, anyone who stayed more than a minute, could realize that they could take advantage of the room. But there was an alarm system, a trap the twins had set up.

It was an alarm that didn't require any bells and whistles.

It was based on the mind.

If the victim was close to the screen, it could pick up his thoughts, feelings, and desires. This image, this identical being to Alice, was about to be her worst nightmare.

Because, as everyone knows, a man's worst nightmare is himself.

"You won't find him," mocked the creature from Alice's nightmares.

"I will," said Alice stepping closer to the girl on the other side of the screen. "And I'm not about to let you stop me."

"Stupid girl," said the second Alice. "Do you know who I am?"

"I'm beginning to figure it out," said the oyster.

"And who am I?"

Alice shrugged. "The manifestation of my doubts, my fears, anything and everything about myself that I hate."

"Well done," teased the image.

"You're pretty obvious," said Alice crossing her arms.

"You made me what I am," said the second Alice.

"Move!" yelled the true Alice. "Let me see what I want to see!"

"You really think we can save him," whispered the body born and clothed in doubts, fears, and dismay. "Stupid girl."

_How did Mad March get passed this? _Alice thought staring angrily at her enemy.

"He cannot help you," said the mind reader. "Neither can Hatter."

Alice stepped even closer to the mirror image of herself so that she could reach up her hand and touch the glass.

"Don't you dare speak his name," she whispered angrily.

"Hatter," snapped her conscience, "is dead."

"No!" screamed the girl made of flesh and blood. She slammed her fist against the giant screen. Alice expected to find glass hitting against her palms, but instead her hands went through the giant screen.

_Not again, _thought Alice. _I'm really beginning to hate mirrors._

Alice removed her hands and arms from the screen and stuck her head through instead. This way she would not fall in completely and, if need be, she could pull herself out quick enough.

She was beginning to understand Wonderland.

For instance, she now understood that she had to move past her doubts, fears, and misgivings to get what she really wanted. So much for the twins' plans…

On the other side of the screen was a smaller screen that also stood up vertically on its own without any support. On the top right corner of the screen was a red button.

It read: Push Me.

Alice was not a fan of inanimate objects that wanted the victim to proceed with a requested activity. Her first instinct was to remove herself from this room, and from the screen which connected this room and the white room. To remove herself from everything would be such a relief.

But then…

Well, then she thought about a conversation.

_Do you know why the call me Hatter?_

He was such a…a callous sort of man. Alice could see that clearly even before he had spoken to her. And he had asked it in such a bold sort of way to the little lost oyster.

_Because you wear a hat?_

Alice actually did believe it. It could have been the reason why they called him Hatter. He wore a hat, therefore he was called Hatter. Simple.

Not so simple…

_No. It's because I'm always there when they pass the hat._

The subject of hats and names had been dropped after that remark. But Alice, as she stood in between two different rooms, thought about Hatter's words. She whispered them softly and let his words taste the fresh air. She smiled, despite her current situation.

There was more, much more, to the man she loved than his hat.

And Alice would not remove herself from the situation until she had answers. And, until she had Hatter back.

She took a breath and pushed the anxious button.

* * *

Though time did not run the lives of the inhabitants of Wonderland, Eric Browning wished that he knew precisely how long it had been since he had been running. He knew that, without his suit, no one would recognize him. People didn't really see suits anyway.

Eric was nervous because, for years, he had been given orders and rules to follow. This was the first time he had ever been given a chance to think for himself. Being a suit means having a mind like a machine.

Due to his nerves he did not look where he was going and collided against something, or someone wearing very heavy clothes. Eric and the other person both fell to the ground with a loud clanging sound.

The ex-suit sat up and blinked. He was about to continue his run, worried that this man would report him to the queen immediately, but then he got a look at the man.

The subject in question was indeed wearing something heavy. The subject in question was wearing armor.

"That was fun," said the strange man twiddling with his white mustache. "Shall we do that again? With the running start and all?"

Eric and the man in armor stood up together.

Eric raised a brow. His first assumption was that this man was one of the escapees that sometimes broke out of the mental hospital on the fifth floor. Suits were often asked to escort the desperate lunatics back to the hospital. But, even as a suit, that "hospital" always gave Eric an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Besides, the doctors would not let the patients walk around with armor, lunatic or no lunatic.

"Who are you?" asked Eric.

The old man smiled and bowed to Eric. "I am a knight."

Eric nodded slowly. Maybe this man was mad.

But, Eric thought even the maddest people on the surface could have the most pure and honest intentions. If suits could run free, why couldn't this man actually be a knight?

"I'm Four—I mean," said Eric not used to introducing himself by his given name, "I'm Eric Browning. And you are?"

"Charlie," said the old knight with a smile. "The spirits have led me to you with a purpose."

Eric, ready to believe anything at this point, looked around the abandoned hallway to make sure that no one was listening.

Charlie misinterpreted Eric's actions. "The spirits are not now Eric Browning, they need to be summoned."

"Oh," said Eric. "My apologizes."

"Why were you running Eric Browning?" asked Charlie in a melodic voice.

"You don't have to keep calling me by my full name," said Eric, "Eric will be fine."

Charlie nodded. "Eric then. Why were you running?"

"I'm uh," said Eric not completely sure if the truth was the best answer, "trying to find my friends." This was true. Eric had been running to find other suits who he knew despised the queen and wished for some kind of revolution. However, finding confident Suits, who would willingly disobey their queen, was proving to be more difficult than Eric had first anticipated.

Charlie put his fingers to his temples. "I am attempting a similar feat Eric."

"Have the spirits been helpful?" asked Eric teasingly but also with true curiosity.

It could happen. Anything could happen.

Charlie moved his head from side to side. His eyes were firmly planted on Eric the entire time his head moved.

"They led me to you," said Charlie for the first time seriously. "I have seen many people come by me. They have given me curious looks or walked the other way. You are the first, and only one, who had come into forceful contact with me."

"Is that a good thing?" asked Eric unsure.

"Sh!" commanded Charlie. "I have not finished. As I was saying, normally, under such circumstances after that, I would have drawn my sword and challenged you to a duel." He then pointed to the sheathed sword which hung by Charlie's side.

"Oh," said Eric.

"I would have done so while you were recovering," said Charlie proudly. "But the spirits forbad me from doing you any harm."

Eric rubbed his head. "Apart from the initial harm you mean?"

Charlie chuckled. "I am sorry for that old chap."

Eric shrugged. "It's fine. But, why did the spirits send you to me? How could I help you?"

Charlie closed his eyes and sat on his knees. "I am attempting to ask them."

"Should I wait here?" asked Eric.

Charlie began to hum softly.

"Okay," said Eric quietly checking the hallway again to make certain no one was coming.

"AH!" Charlie opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. "You are his son."

Eric blinked. "Whose son?"

"Why," said Charlie. "Your father's of course."

Eric shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know who your father is?" asked Charlie trying to hide a smile.

Eric shook his head. "My father died when I was a child. My mother raised me, and she never spoke about him."

Charlie looked at Eric squarely in the eye. "Ever heard of a man who goes by the name Caterpillar?"

* * *

The Queen of Hearts seemed to be the only resident in Wonderland who was truly unaffected by the timelessness. She did not care for hours, or minutes. She had no need for seconds that came and then disappeared again forever.

She, at this moment, felt truly at peace.

It helped that she was sipping a glass of 'serenity,' at that moment.

It did not help that at the moment, she was staring down at her rebellious and troublesome son, Jack Heart.

"You disobeyed me," she said calmly.

Jack shrugged. "You seem to have taken it well enough."

The queen sniffed. "It is a shame I cannot kill you Jack."

"Did you finally find a heart?" asked Jack.

"Call it what you will," said the queen setting down her drink.

"My," said Jack with a disgusted look on his face. "You are at peace mother."

The queen smiled.

"Cut off another head today?" asked her son.

"Better," sighed the queen blissfully.

"Two heads?" asked Jack.

The queen leaned forward in her chair. It was almost like she was sharing some deep secret with her son. "I have killed a man with kindness."

"Overdose?" asked Jack eyeing his mother's drink. "That's so unlike you."

The queen sighed. "Not with drinking you fool!"

Jack blinked.

"Just have a look," she said pushing a button on her throne.

In front of the queen, and directly behind Jack, a giant screen appeared on the wall.

The queen snapped her fingers and two suits forcefully turned Jack around so that he could look at the screen in front of him. He was only slightly worried about what he would see.

Suddenly the screen turned on and Jack was confronted with a rather startling image. He saw a man, lying almost dead on the floor. In front of the man stood two people who, to Jack's surprise, looked very much like himself and Alice!

"What have you ordered now, mother?" asked Jack loudly so that he would not hear whatever his false self was saying.

He heard the queen's laughter. "Do you recognize that man?"

"Which one?" asked Jack angrily.

"The dying one," answered his mother.

"No," said Jack sternly.

But of course, he did recognize the man in question. The man was Hatter. He had been traveling with Alice when Jack had searched through the forest looking for her.

"For what you have done," said the queen, "you shall be the next unlucky drinker of the twins' miraculous poison. I can watch you die in the comfort that your own mind shall kill you."

"If his own mind," said Jack trying to remain calm, "is his murderer, then why have the doubles?"

"No man should die alone dear," said the queen softly taking a sip of her drink.

"And the camera?"

"I love using my tools to their full ability, your friend was happy to oblige as she always is," said the queen.

Jack closed his eyes.

_Duchess._

He did care for the Duchess, despite what he had told Alice and himself. He wished that she was not caught up in this mess, in his mess. But the queen used everyone that she could get her hands on. She would even use this defenseless man to please herself.

Jack was beginning to doubt the ability of the Resistance to do much of anything. Now, with Caterpillar gone, things seemed just as hopeless as ever.

He opened his eyes at the sound of his voice.

"You are worthless," said the Jack on the giant screen.

* * *

"You are worthless."

Hearing Jack, even though she knew it was not the man himself, say such things made the Duchess cringe.

Though the Duchess might not be able to watch this torture unfold, she was charged with a task by the queen.

The camera was hidden in her bracelet and she kept her hands behind her back so that the world might see what misery Hatter endured.

The misery that Hatter endured was greater than the imposters, the Duchess, Jack, or even the Queen of Hearts herself, could begin to understand. There had been so much fire in the man's heart, a kind of fire that he thought never existed. She had kindled it…there was no question about that.

And now, Hatter opened one eye to the girl, now she was killing it.

So what had their conversations meant?

Where they all in his head? It was not, it could not be possible. She had felt so real to him even though he could not see her. And now, now that Alice stood mere inches from him, she felt like she could have been on the other side of the Looking Glass.

Hatter tightened his grip on Alice's shoe.

Hatter looked at the Alice who taunted him. She sounded like Alice, she looked like Alice, she walked and moved just like the oyster Hatter had loved.

Yet…

Explain why Hatter was able to hold Alice's shoe in his hand, and yet this Alice had two shoes on her feet!

It was a simple matter of the twins' inability to plan future events.

How were they to expect Alice, in a fit of rage, to throw off her shoe and not wish to retrieve it? How were they to expect Hatter to hold onto the shoe while he ran in search of the woman he loved?

There were some things that even the twins did not plan out.

Hatter closed his eyes. He was trying to find someone. He had to tell her something...

"You only have...," whispered Hatter.

"What?" asked the false Jack.

"What?" asked the false Alice.

Even the Duchess with her camera turned around to face Hatter.

Now, cameras are an interesting device. They can be so small, and fit in a child's palm, yet they project images that a larger than life itself. The Duchess' camera was no exception. It was able to fit inside her bracelet, yet could show to the entire court how Hatter suffered for the woman he loved.

But…

The twins planned for most everything. The twins were also vain. They knew that the queen would wish to document this trial run of the poison. They knew, as they planned, that she would have their beautiful creation manufactured and sold as if it was her own.

Dee and Dum most certainly knew that it was not her own. It was their own.

They wanted to document their trial run of the little poison as well. If one looked closely, it would be obvious that Jack had a bit of fuzz on his jacket. But it was more than fuzz—it was a camera that was recording this event as well.

Unlike the Duchess' camera, the twins' camera was not being shown to an entire courtroom of people. It was being sent to where the twins sent every successful torture record.

The white room.

And Alice, as she pushed the button on the screen, only had to know how to find it. She was so close to finding the truth behind the lies. She was so close to saving Hatter's life and understanding the truth of his pain. She was so close…

Yet time does not run in Wonderland. Time, like the mindless casino games, seemed endless and limitless. There were no hours in Wonderland to tell Alice how long she had been in this strange world. There were no minutes to tell Alice how long she waited for the screen to turn on. And there were no seconds to tell the girl how long her beloved had left on this earth.

**WHOA! so finally found a function for the duchess! yay!!! and Eric!!! double yay! sooooo what do you think? also tell me what you'd think if i just dimissed her dad? love you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yes its been a while....i know i know...you missed me. It's okay cauze i missed you all too. Schools been really bad for the past couple of weeks and i havent found the time..except now! yay! so happy march to you all....hopefully you've all bought your copy of "Alice"-i havent either so i'm not judging. So this chapter might be a bit confusing so pm me with questions...hope you like it and review it!**

**Chapter Six: Images and Angels**

The timid oyster pushed the button.

The screen in front of her turned blue, and then green, and then blue again, making Alice blink. She was beginning to slightly regret the decision to push the button that was so clearly desiring to be pushed.

But, she was confronted with a menu screen.

"Curious," whispered the girl.

Her own voice gave her goosebumps. It was eerie, being all alone by one's self in a white room. In a grand white room…

Alice stared at the menu screen in confusion.

"What's your pleasure?" said a voice.

Alice jumped. "What?"

"What's your pleasure?" repeated the voice calmly.

Alice looked around the room. There couldn't be anyone else here…right?

"Look this way," said the voice patiently.

Alice looked at the screen in front of her. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes," said the giant screen.

At first Alice was glad for the company. It was too chilling being alone. Perhaps this voice could be useful to her. It could help her find what she needed.

It could help her find Hatter.

But…then again…what if it couldn't?

What if it didn't?

She was just recovering from talking to her demeaning, cruel, mirror image. She could not deal with another trap, or trick, or whatever the twins set up as a shield for any intruders.

She didn't have time for any of this! Damn the countless minutes of Wonderland! That might be how this place was run, but it was most certainly not how she was run. Alice had a task, the task was to save Hatter from whatever was killing him. Alice was not about to get off track by a talking monitor.

_Besides_, Alice thought smugly,_ it wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen in this world. _

"You don't think I'm the strangest thing you've seen in Wonderland," said the screen. "I'm a little shaken up by that."

Alice gasped.

"I can read your mind," said the screen kindly.

Alice shrugged. "I'm not surprised actually."

"What's your pleasure?" repeated the screen. "We haven't got all day."

The girl raised a brow. "If you know what I'm thinking, then you know why I'm here."

"I do," said the screen.

Alice sighed. "Then why don't you…raise an alarm or something? Sound the guards?"

"I don't think you understand," said the screen.

Alice narrowed her brows. "If you can really read my mind, you'll know that I don't have time for you to give me a long explanation I won't understand anyway. Look there's someone suffering…who needs me!"

"Hatter," said the screen. "I know Alice, and, from what I can see…he is alive, for the moment."

"For the moment?" Alice repeated. "Wait!"

"Yes?"

"You can see him? He's on the twins' records isn't he?"

The screen sighed, or at least, as much as a screen can sigh. "In a way."

"Now I'm gonna need you to explain that," said Alice crossing her arms.

"Here's a projection of Hatter's current condition," said the screen.

Suddenly, from the screen a ray of light appeared. It began shaping itself into something. It took on the form of a man, a man who Alice had come to know quite well.

Alice gasped. "Hatter!"

* * *

"Caterpillar!" gasped Eric.

"Sh!" commanded Charlie. "Sh!"

Eric blinked. Of course he had heard of Caterpillar, anyone with a brain, even a suit, knew who Caterpillar was. The famed leader of the Resistance who was always one step ahead of the Queen. Always one step ahead of the suits…

Eric looked like a young and lost child to the knight. "Is it true?"

"Spirits tend not to lie," said Charlie calmly.

"Why would they?" said Eric half mockingly, "they're dead. What do they get out of lies?"

The child of the leader kicked at the wall.

Charlie winced. "What is the matter?"

"The matter?" repeated Eric. "You want to know what the matter is?"

"Yes," replied the knight.

"Normal day," said Eric pacing the deserted hallway. "I'm fine, work is fine, all is fine. Then this girl, she just bursts in, talking to herself, to some Hatter, and—"

"Stop!" commanded Charlie.

Eric stopped.

"Did you just say, Hatter?"

* * *

Dee and Dum, disguised as Alice and Jack, stared at Hatter.

They were dumbfounded.

They were very rarely confused, and even less dumfounded.

Yet, there they were, at their biggest moment, and they found themselves totally dumbfounded at the man who would not die.

The two brothers knew how long the poison would work. It depended entirely on the man. Well, technically speaking, it all depended on the man's mind. A man's mind that was filled to the brim with sorrow, as this man's was, should be dead by now.

Yet Hatter would not die.

He was even trying to speak!

The fake Alice gave a glance to the fake Jack.

_He shouldn't be able to speak!_

The fake Jack nodded.

_He should be silenced._

It should not be a surprise to anyone that the twins were able to speak to each other telepathically. Telepathy was as simple as reading another's facial expression.

At least…it was simple to the brothers.

So Hatter perhaps should have been silenced but…

If Jack, played by Dum, killed Hatter at the moment, then it would all be lost.

They would be humiliated not only in front of the Duchess, but in front of all the people who were watching the show due to the Duchess' well placed camera. Most importantly, they would be humiliated in front of the queen.

The Queen of Hearts did not like to watch her own scientists be humiliated.

She always seemed to take it so personally.

Their heads would be gone before they could give a yelp.

Everything would be ruined.

And the twins knew that too. That fact, they did not need to communicate telepathically.

So they would wait and taunt only.

Meanwhile, Hatter gasped a breath. He was looking directly at Dee. Dee, for one of the few moments in his life, felt true fear. He knew, was totally certain, that Hatter could not see past the Alice façade. And yet…the shattered man's eyes seemed to see through the false Alice, to the real Dee. It was as if Hatter could examine all the aspects of Dee that he kept from the world. That he kept from himself.

Desperation can sometimes bring out strength.

Hatter gasped again.

"You only have one shoe," Hatter whispered.

* * *

The Queen did not lean forward upon Hatter's whispered words.

"What did he say?!"

She did yell though.

Everyone scrambled to answer her but no one else had heard what the tortured man said.

The queen rolled her eyes.

Now, this wouldn't really matter in the general scheme of events. However, the queen enjoyed watching torture. It was like a pastime to her. It was therefore, important that she had a good time at her pastime or else…

Or else who knows what would happen?

One of the queen's favorite parts of a good torture session was the victim's desperate cries of mercy, or sorrow, or guilt, or anything.

Missing what Hatter said was like missing the famous line of a movie. Missing what Hatter said was like accidently drinking a dose of regret and annoyance.

The queen glared at her drink.

Though it read "pleasure" she did not feel happy.

Meanwhile her son, held by suits, smiled at the screen in front of him.

He had mastered the art of lip reading at a young age. Being part of the Resistance gives one a number of advantages in life.

Currently this advantage was, knowing something his mother didn't know.

_So, _Jack thought, looking at the pained soul on the giant screen, _she only has one shoe. You're beginning to figure it out Hatter._

If Hatter understood the twins were not who they professed to be, perhaps he could beat through the poison coursing through his veins.

Jack smiled at the thought. That would be one very visible sign of defeat to the twins and their ability to play with the mind as if it was a playground. That would be one very visible sign of defeat to the queen's reign of terror. If the people began to believe that they were in command of their own minds again, they could begin to hope.

That depended entirely on Hatter.

The queen's current happiness also depended entirely on Hatter. She discreetly moved her ring to her lips.

"Tell them to make him say it again," she whispered.

As the queen spoke into her ring, her son spoke to the man who could not hear him.

"Keep fighting Hatter," he whispered. "Keep fighting."

The queen tapped her ring and repeated, "Tell them to make him say what he just said again."

* * *

On the other end of the ring Duchess sighed.

She moved the earring/microphone close to her lips, and then she looked at Hatter.

He looked so small and alone. There was no one else in the world who could understand what he was suffering. Yet, everyone in Wonderland was watching him at this very moment.

It was all very confusing and muddling to Duchess.

She thought about what Jack would want her to do, if he was standing beside her.

_Calm yourself._

Duchess took a deep breath.

_What can you do so that the most people are happy?_

She knew that pleasing the queen would make the most people happy, though she doubted that Jack could understand that pleasing people, in this case, was something of a destructive nature.

Duchess took another deep breath.

_What can you do so that you are happy?_

Duchess closed her eyes. _I would overpower the twins._

The blonde widened her eyes at her own self discovery. She had never been that inwardly brave and daring before. But, the more she thought about it, the truer it became. If she had the choice, and the ability, she would smash the camera, overpower the twins, and save Hatter.

But Duchess looked at the twins.

They could kill her by just looking at her.

They could cut and rearrange the pieces of her mind as if it was child's play.

Duchess could have been braver if there were other people on her side here with her. But, there were not at the moment.

She would, for the moment, save herself and later, when opportunity stuck, act.

The rebellious feeling caused Duchess to smile to herself.

_If only Jack could see me like this._

She surreptitiously lifted her earring to her lips. "Yes your majesty."

Duchess let go of the earring.

She looked the false Jack in the eye.

She mouthed the queen's orders to him.

The false Jack nodded and looked down at Hatter. Truth be told, Dum could not hear what Hatter had said. Neither could Dee, though he was standing closer still to Hatter.

Actually, none of the people who watched Hatter fade away, could hear his epiphany, save for Jack. And Jack was only guessing.

Jack was only hoping for a miracle.

"What did you say?" asked Jack kneeling down to face Hatter.

* * *

"Hatter!" yelled the girl as she stared at the image of the man who had captured her heart.

The screen was silent.

Hatter moaned.

"What have they done to him?" she asked angrily.

"You want to know?" asked the screen.

"Yes," said Alice. "I'm not afraid."

And she wasn't. She looked at Hatter's pale face.

"Step closer," said the screen.

"How do I know," said Alice stepping closer to the screen, "that this is not a trap?"

"I do not take sides," said the screen. "The twins knew that when they programmed me. It was a risk that they took."

"What do I have to do?"

"Step inside," said the screen.

Alice stepped inside the screen and was confronted with an image of a man wearing a grand hat upon his head. He looked extremely healthy as if he had never been injured in his life. Hatter smiled at the little oyster who had traveled through a looking glass, and two screens of blackness to reach this moment.

But Alice knew, even as she stared at the glory of her love, that he was not really Hatter.

"How did you guess?" asked Hatter with the screen's voice.

"What's going on?" asked Alice looking around the room.

Hatter took out a remote and clicked it. "You chose to see what the twins have done to Hatter so I thought it would be best that it be Hatter who led you through this experience."

Alice nodded. "Okay."

Hatter clicked the remote and suddenly Alice was confronted by Hatter, sitting in a chair being poked and prodded with the twins' instruments.

She winced.

"It gets worse," said the manifestation of Hatter.

Alice looked at the false image. "I thought you didn't take sides."

"It gets worse for you little oyster," replied the image smoothly.

Alice watched as the twins injected something into Hatter's brain. She looked away but she heard the screen speak.

"You have to watch this part," said the screen, "if you really want to save him, or me."

So Alice watched. She watched as Hatter was injected with something. She watched as Hatter began to grow woozy and his head drooped. She watched as Hatter was suddenly transported out of the room and then later returned.

The screen explained, "His injection created a scenario in his head, the twins played it out and played on his fears."

Alice said nothing.

"They don't record that data," said the false Hatter.

"I miss you," said Alice not caring whether the man who spoke was real or imaginary.

The screen, for the first time, remained silent.

Alice shook her head. "I'm never going to save you in time."

"The injection is not like normal poison," said the screen. "It destroys you with your own anxieties and depression. You become your worst enemy with that poison."

"I don't understand," said the girl as a tear slid down her cheek.

"They are using his fears and concerns about you," said the image of Hatter, "to torture him."

Alice blinked. "That's insane."

"You shouldn't be too surprised about that," said the screen.

Alice nodded. "I've been in Wonderland long enough to know that insanity seems to come naturally to people."

Hatter shook his head. "That's not what you're surprised about."

The girl suddenly felt very exposed.

"You're surprised that he could have that amount of pain and suffering…because of you."

Alice shook her head. "Stop."

"Why shouldn't he?" asked the image fast forwarding through the rest of the torture. "Your feelings for him are your most prominent and easiest feelings to read."

"Just stop it!" yelled Alice at the image who was not the man she loved. "Stop saying things like that you don't know him! You don't know me! Maybe the twins didn't create you as a trap but it's certainly hindering any sort of progress I could be making."

"You're upset," said the screen in a monotone.

"He's going to die!" she screamed.

"He's alive now," said the false Hatter. "I can see him."

"Show me," said the girl.

Hatter clicked on the screen in front of him. Alice was confronted with the picture of her dear sweet Hatter. He was suffering and in pain. But, that was not the worst part, nor the weirdest. Alice also saw a figure sitting next to him. The figure looked exactly like the oyster who currently stood in a screen within a screen in a white room.

"It's me," she whispered.

The screen looked at the scene in front of it. "It's not you."

Alice nodded. "What are the twins doing to him?"

"This poison," explained the image, "would be a breakthrough for them. They are recording it here."

"They're killing him," realized the girl, "they're killing him with words. Torturing him to death."

"And," said the talking screen, "they're using you to do it. Whether you believe it or not."

Alice closed her eyes. "I'm not going to make it in time. Even if I know exactly where he is now…the twins have him…and…"

The image looked at the human. "Try talking to him."

Alice gave the computer generated Hatter a look. "What?"

"I can read your thoughts remember? I know what you've been through today. You had a conversation with Hatter. I want you to try to get it back. It might be the only way."

Alice watched the video recorded scene. Hatter was saying nothing. Nothing at all.

She heard her own voice yell, "What did you say?!"

Hatter still said nothing.

Alice closed her eyes and pictured the man she loved.

_Hatter! Hatter, please listen to me!_

* * *

As everyone stared, watched, poked, prodded the shattered man, Hatter was having problems of his own. First of all, the woman he loved had currently turned against him and was treating him like dirt. Second, the man he hated was laughing at him from on high.

Thirdly, he was dying.

_Need to straighten out your priorities a bit._

Hatter inwardly shrugged.

He would be dead soon…he was allowed to have screwed up priorities.

Hatter blocked out all the noise and the hate and the chaos. He closed his eyes.

He heard a voice.

_Hatter! Listen to me!_

Hatter felt a little more strength in his hands. He began to feel new life flow into his fingertips. He even smiled.

_Alice!_

Could it be her? But…then…wait a moment…

Who the hell was the woman with Jack?

Perhaps it was the voice who was the imposter.

After all, you shouldn't trust what you can't see.

Not that Hatter abided by sayings.

_Why are you killing me?_

_I'm not, _the voice answered, _they are. _

Hatter concentrated on a figure of the girl he loved and he saw her. She was trembling ever so sweetly. She was twirling her hair a bit nervously. Her face was the epitome of sorrow.

_You're so sad, _thought Hatter.

Alice said nothing.

_I'm suffering, and you are the one who looks sad._

_I'm suffering too, _said the angel.

Hatter shook his head. _You are with Jack. You have always chosen Jack. I shouldn't be surprised._

_Hatter I'm trying to save you._

_Well, _Hatter scoffed, _you're doing a good job of it. _

_Hatter you idiot! I love you! _

Hatter's mouth opened. _You what? What did you just say?_

_I love you, _said the beautiful vision of grace. _I'm in love with you. And those people, they aren't me. That girl, that girl who is giving you pain and suffering…she isn't me! I would never treat you like that. I would never ever hurt you. Hatter you mean more to me than anything else, in this world or in mine. _

Hatter was left speechless.

_Say something! _begged the girl.

Hatter suddenly felt something grabbing his throat. He opened his eyes and the vision disappeared. He was confronted by Jack's hand around his neck.

"You," spat the imposing figure, "said something to her. I demand to know what you said."

Dum did not realize that Hatter's arms were coming out of their comas. He could not have imagined how sunlight was beginning to fill Hatter's soul. Dum could not comprehend how Hatter's lungs were suddenly and vigorously being refreshed again.

Hatter smiled.

He spat at Dum.

Though he thought his deed was one of courage, he did not realize what he had just done. The water from his spit had collided with the supposed "fuzz" on Dum's jacket. It had collided with the camera and caused it to become chaotic and spastic.

It caused the scene that Alice was watching to end abruptly.

But it caused Hatter to be filled with revolution, with strength. There was hope again, however small it may be. There was still hope.

"I said," said Hatter gaining a voice, "that she," he pointed to the false Alice, "only has one shoe!"

With his strength he picked up the shoe in his hand. "You are not who you claim to be!"

The queen, who was currently sipping her drink of "pleasure" spit it out upon Hatter's words.

Jack nodded his approval to the man who had found life again.

Duchess realized that she had a chance to actually overthrow the twins.

And Alice?

Alice saw the blank screen and assumed the worst. She ran back out of the two screens and back into the white room. She ignored the screen's yells and left the white room and the torture room. Alice found an abandoned hallway and collapsed exhausted.

She was sobbing.

_They killed him. They killed him because of me._

_Hatter what have I done?_

How could she have known that not far off, a man was beginning to rise again from the ashes like a phoenix?

**What do you think????**


	7. Chapter 7

** Yeah, its been more than a month since updating the story. Hope that absence didnt make ya'll think this was done...cauze its not. And yes if any of you read both this and my twilight story, i did update both today (what are odds???) also fun fact: for you robin hood fans who read this (i dont know if you do) i might even go for three for three and update love leads us home...hmmm. Anyway i really really like this chapter and i just love writng wonderland cauze i get to be a philospohical and scholarly.**

**Disclaimer: Dont own Alice In wonderland. That's Syfy and Lewis Carol and totally NOT me. I dont even own the dvd sniff sniff**

**Chapter Seven: From Ashes to Ashes**

There are times when men have risen from nothing. And there are also occurrences when they have fallen from grace like sliver stars bedecking the night sky. The trouble was, you never knew, just by looking at a man, if he would sink or swim.

Of course, it was true that certain men, without much beneath the surface, could be read as easily as children's books. Some men would have boundless riches and successes, like the brothers Dee and Dum. Everything they touched, tinkered, and tweaked had turned to pure gold. How could they ever be doubted?

But now the brothers stared dumbfounded as a man, presumed dead and gone, began to stand up.

* * *

"Stand up," said Eric Browning to the strange knight who was leaning against the wall. "Please, you're making a spectacle of yourself."

"Sh!" insisted Charlie keeping his eyes tightly closed.

Eric rolled his eyes. "I don't get what's so important. Hatter is just a normal prisoner, he has nothing to do with me, Alice, or Caterpillar. Why are you wasting your time, our time, when—"

Charlie stood up now and smiled at Eric. "He has everything to do with this. The spirits have just informed me of that."

"First they tell you that Caterpillar is my father," Eric said with irritation, "then they tell you that Hatter is, what, the key to the entire operation? And you still won't explain anything to me."

Charlie sighed and looked sympathetically at the boy. "You know the legends of Alice. She will bring down the entire deck of cards, uproot the queen and the poison in this land, and, basically, save us all. Well, she cannot do any of that without—"

Eric interrupted him. "Let me guess, Caterpillar? But he's dead."

Charlie put his fingers to his temples and started swerving around the hallway humming to himself.

"Did you know that your father," Charlie said, after a couple of hums, "had a theory about Wonderland? Besides being the leader of the famous resistance, besides healing those who overdosed on emotions, he had a prediction about the way this land worked."

"How do you know all this?" Eric asked.

Charlie pointed to his brain. "I have my ways. May I go on?"

Eric shrugged. "Sure, I don't have any other plans."

Charlie grinned brightly at Eric. "I'm glad you said that."

Charlie looked up and down at Eric Browning. The spirits, being those sorts of creatures, told Charlie everything there was to know about Eric. Charlie, though a little soft in the head, understood the courage Eric had in order to escape from the ranks of the suits. There was much of his father in his soul, and, Charlie was told, Eric too could see things that his father did.

Eric, though he did not know it, had witnessed a conversation between two minds.

Such a thing, Charlie had found from the higher powers, was a rarity that very few could do, and even fewer could witness.

What Eric had assumed was Alice, talking to herself, was really Alice talking to Hatter. And no, unlike what Eric believed, Alice was not talking to herself, her mind was connecting to Hatter's mind. But, Eric could hear Alice's part of the conversation, and that was special. That was extremely rare.

Caterpillar had spent months trying to train himself to do what his son had done flawlessly. Though, Caterpillar died before he had the chance to enhance his mind further in order to hear the other part of the conversation.

Perhaps, if Eric understood, he would have more success.

Charlie, endowed with this knowledge, now owed it to Eric, the spirits, and Alice, to tell Eric everything.

But he began in a different direction. "Alice will not be able to take down the monarchy, without Hatter."

"What?" Eric blinked.

Charlie nodded sagely. "He gives her courage, he can see into her soul in a way that no one else can. In short, without him, we remain under the queen's control."

Eric's face turned serious. "Then we find Hatter, and bring him to Alice."

"Easier said than done," said Charlie tugging gently at his white mustache. "This is a very great palace. There are many, many places that Hatter could be. And there is another problem as well."

"What?" asked Eric anxiously.

"Alice is under the impression that Hatter is dead," said Charlie quietly.

Eric blinked. "Is he?"

Charlie beamed at the youth, trying so hard to be a man, and acting like such a young boy.

"No."

* * *

"No," the queen whispered shaking her head.

She was beginning to feel like the ground around her was shaking and rattling. But, she knew that it was only her imagination.

The Queen of Hearts commanded herself to remain calm. Things were not going well for her, but she would not show any sort of feelings about it. After, all she was still queen and ruler of all Wonderland. It did not matter that Hatter was not falling under the spell of the twins' poison. It made no difference in the larger picture.

She looked over at her son. Jack's face was beaming brightly at the screen in front of him.

The Queen so hated to see her son's smile.

Because then, the Queen of Hearts got a very terrible idea into her brain. What if this man's actions became a sign of strength to the Resistance? After all, this Hatter, the queen knew, had done something no man had ever been able to do. He had resisted the twins.

Wait a minute.

She was the _Queen of Hearts._ She was the_ ruler of all Wonderland_.

If she wanted a man to die, then he would die. Resistance was absolutely futile.

Because the queen, like everyone else, knew that every man is just as capable of sinking as he is of rising. It all depends on the how you push him.

And the queen, to save her kingdom for the likes of any resistance, was willing to do a lot of pushing.

She surreptitiously lifted up her ring to her finger. "Duchess, shut this down."

* * *

On the other side of the ring, in the Duchess' erring, she groaned as she heard the queen's instructions.

She was told to shut it down. She was expressly told to shut it down. Not that she wanted to in the slightest.

"How?" asked the Duchess quietly into her erring. She gave a quick glance at Hatter. He was beginning to stand up. His legs were shaking, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. He had so little left, but so much future that was possible.

_If he became a little stronger then…_

The Duchess blinked.

_Then what, exactly? You'll stand up to the queen, will you? _

Duchess gave another look to Hatter. How could she break from the queen now, and trust, absolutely that he would heal and join her? Duchess knew she couldn't fight Dee and Dum alone.

However, she did not need to tell the doctors to fix the problem, they had already begun to crowd around Hatter and almost prevent him, physically from rising again.

"I think," said Duchess quietly in her erring, "the twins are trying to put the situation under control."

She hoped that the queen would be pleased with that…and then she had an idea.

A very unDuchess idea.

"Why not turn off the video?" she suggested into her erring. "The twins are probably a little nervous what with the entire crowd of Wonderland watching, give them the benefit of the doubt and just let them work."

Duchess bit her lip, wondering if she had gone too far.

Perhaps she could, like Eric, like Hatter, rise up from the ashes as well. Though she only saw herself falling, and falling….

And falling.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" Dum whispered into Hatter's ear.

Hatter's eyes narrowed as the fake Jack grabbed his weak shoulders, preventing him from standing up to his full height.

Hatter said nothing.

"I said," repeated Dum, "where do you think you're going?"

Hatter took a breath. "You can just forget this alright? Just give up the entire façade." He glanced at Duchess who was looking at him with very worried eyes.

There was no mental connection between them. Duchess could not say all that she wanted to say to him. She wished she could tell him how very sorry she was for being involved in his pain. She wished that she could tell the brave soul that she understood his struggle with the darkness. She wished she could tell the hero that she was rooting for him.

Hatter, for his part, was not concerned about Duchess.

"I know," said Hatter. "I know everything."

"Hatter," said Dee sweetly approaching Hatter's side, "just do what he says alright? You've lost, you lost me, and you must accept it."

Hatter chuckled slightly. Though it pained him to do so, it also gave him strength that he could still smile, and that he could still laugh. He had once laughed all the time, where had that beauty gone? The music, the happiness, the light, it had all faded from Hatter when he had been tortured.

But, perhaps, thought the rising soul, perhaps that is not what to focus on. It was better to dwell in the fact that he could feel now, that he could live now, and he would not give it all up again as easily as it had left him.

"And you must accept," said Hatter to Dee, "that you are not Alice. You could never be like Alice, so do not try."

Dee looked at the shoe Hatter still held in his hand. Dee knew that it belonged to that oyster and that it was what was giving Hatter this new found strength. But, he would have to be broken, or else.

_We should kill him, _he though to Dum.

_We could risk everything if we just killed him, we would not be able to market the new poison, and the queen would still have our heads. No, my dear Dee, I have a better idea._

Before Hatter's eyes the masks Dee and Dum had worn were beginning to fall as if they were nothing at all. Hatter was under the impression that he was winning.

If only he had been right.

* * *

"Right," said Jack quietly looking up at the large screen he was being forced to watch. "Come on Hatter, reveal them for who they really are."

Before he could get more immersed in the beauty of the truth that lay before Hatter's eyes, the screen grew dark.

The court began to chatter among themselves nervously wondering what the queen had decided.

"Too much happiness for you, mother?" Jack asked turning to face the queen as she sat on her royal throne.

The Queen of Hearts took a sip of the second drink that was on her little table: bliss.

"It is best that we leave the work to the experts," said the queen sharing a false smile with her subjects. "We must not rush the doctors you know."

She stood up now. "Do you see my subjects? You have just witnessed the power of poison, a new kind of poison which invades and crushes every whisper of happiness you may once have experienced. It shall soon be on the market, and of course, used against all enemies of Wonderland."

The Queen of Hearts looked directly at Jack. "Beginning with you, son."

* * *

It was over. It was all over and nothing would ever be right again for the poor oyster who had fallen down the rabbit hole. She would never return to the beauty of her own world, she knew that now. Hell, Alice knew that long ago when she had taken up this quest in the first place. But, what she had lost now hurt more than the missing mother, and the mindless father. It hurt more than the hateful boyfriend.

She had lost Hatter.

Alice had lost the only man she had really ever loved, that she had ever given her whole heart to.

He was dead, she was sure that the twins had killed him in their rage, or that the poison had finally taken him.

Alice felt like she could not breathe. She stopped walking in the abandoned corridor and just stood there, hoping to be caught, or killed, or tortured.

Just as they had tortured her love…

Alice suddenly grew very angry, an emotion that she did not wear much on her mostly hopeful heart. But now she was wearing it proudly as if it was a battle scar. She was angry and furious at the satanic twins who had murdered her love and her life.

Alice became angrier and angrier the more she thought about this place, and these strange people, and how they butchered innocence for their own purposes.

Because the girl was so filled with this rage, she did not realize that the light bulbs behind her suddenly cracked and went out.

Curious.

* * *

"Your father," said Charlie feeling very out of breath, "had a second theory about Wonderland."

Eric and Charlie both stopped running to catch their breath. The spirits had been leading them in and out of corridors for what felt like hours and hours, not that time mattered here.

"Besides mental connections?" Eric asked, leaning against the wall for support.

Charlie had told him while they were running. He had told Eric about the way some minds worked and read each other perfectly, even when they were many rooms apart. He had told Eric that this was the sort of connection he had witnessed when he saw Alice "speaking to herself."

"There's another one?" Eric whispered still not really believing the first theory.

Charlie nodded. "There's not much emotion in Wonderland, as I am sure you are aware. Without the oysters' emotions dripping from our mouths, we are not always partial to such things. As you personally know, emotions can be taken away so that the soul is more like a machine than a man."

Eric knew that Charlie was referring to the mindless, senseless suits. "Go on."

The lights flashed suddenly. They flickered, almost going out, but instead, stayed on.

"What was that?" Eric asked nervously.

"There has never been much rage in this building," said Charlie with his eyes closed feeling the walls of the corridor as if reading a message. "You can feel the placidity, the lack of feeling all together. These walls have never experienced strong pain, or sorrow, or anger."

"Can't you just speak plainly?" Eric asked.

"One oyster might destroy the very foundation of this palace in her rage," said Charlie.

"That's good isn't it?" Eric asked feeling as if he knew nothing.

Charlie swayed. "It does not solve anything, except for destruction which is merely emptiness if there is no reason behind it. We could let Alice just bring this all down with her anger, but it would prove nothing, and change nothing."

"We need to stop her from killing us all with her sadness," Eric said nodding.

Charlie beamed again at the brave lad. "And that is where you, my boy, come into the picture."

* * *

In that one second of time it seemed that all the lights in the palace flickered slightly. It was almost like they all winked in unison; as if they knew a secret that the sentient beings did not.

Hatter noticed the blinking lights and briefly wondered what it meant. He did not have time to dwell on such trifle things, there were more important matters to attend to.

Like Alice.

Like leaving this place and finding Alice.

He now watched as the twins' magic was wearing off. He could see that the two creatures he had let himself believe were Alice and Jack were indeed, Dee and Dum.

"Congratulations," said Dee icily.

"You seem to have solved the mystery of the missing shoe," said Dum eyeing Hatter with revulsion and hatred.

"Not that it matters," said Dee theatrically turning his back to Hatter.

Dum did likewise.

"You can leave," said Dum.

Duchess decided to speak up at the moment. "Me?"

Neither brother looked at her, their gaze was at the white wall in front of them.

"No," they said together.

"You know your part in this," said Dee in a monotone. "Your orders are not from us."

Hatter gave a quick glance to Duchess. Her face revealed nothing.

"Me then?" Hatter asked pointing to himself. "What's the catch?"

Dee and Dum in a sickening unison put their hands behind their backs. Hatter saw all twenty pale and pasty fingers and grimaced. He did not like to think of what those digits had been doing to him, or to anyone else…or to…

_To Alice._

He knew that they had played with her mind, just as they had played with his. He had saved her from falling into their clutches once. How long ago had that been? It felt like an eternity plus a lifetime since he had had seen her face, not just in his mind.

Hatter did not dare to close his eyes and attempt to reach his angel at that moment, not with the twins and Duchess around. He might be weak, but he knew the twins would not let him go this easily.

"What's the catch?" he repeated.

"By now you know," said Dee melodically, "that you were given a specific poison, directed at a specific part of your anatomy." At that he turned back to face Hatter, his hands still behind him.

"We administered this to you during your torture," continued Dum in this same melodic tone, "as you know as well. But, before we gave it to you, we tested it on someone else."

Hatter's breath caught in this throat. He could not speak; he could not even attempt a whisper.

"Bastards," Hatter managed to whisper. He was suddenly finding his back against the wall. He needed that rigid support again, he was falling again, he was beginning to sink…

His heart was beating with a quickened pace in his chest, he wondered that the entire world could not hear it and be frightened by its meaning.

Hatter gritted his teeth at the cruelty of this world. He knew that the twins were waiting for him to say the right words. They never let a pull go without a push, or a good without a bad. Every reaction as an equal and opposite reaction.

That was one law that seemed true in both worlds.

"What do I have to do?" Hatter asked pain emanating from his face. "I can't lose her."

Dee smiled. "We know."

Dum grinned as well. "We know full well."

Hatter glared at the brothers.

"Why don't you tell us the options Dee?" suggested Dum as they circled the broken phoenix attempting to fly from the ashes of this cursed world.

"I shall, brother," said Dee grinning from ear to ear. "The first option is to let the poisons run their equal course, if Hatter has recovered than it must come at a cost. The world as you know must have an equal balance of love and pain, is it not so brother?"

"Yes," said Dum sharing his brother's grin. "While you, Hatter might see a full recovery from your pain, Alice will be crushed by it. All the pain you felt in your little obnoxious heart could transfer to her oyster one. The healthier you become, the sicker she gets. So it is the way of life."

"Go on if you want," said Dee. "Just remember that."

The brothers stopped their circling and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Hatter yelled.

The doctors turned around together to face their patient.

"Yes?"

"Save her," Hatter begged. "Please. I can't live in a world she doesn't exist."

Duchess' eyes widened at Hatter's sacrifice. She wondered to herself if there was a man alive who would do such a thing for her. Perhaps Jack would, and, thinking of Jack led her to wonder where he was at the moment.

But, she had made a deal with the queen. It was part of the contract, and the reason why Duchess did not just leave where she stood.

She had promised the queen that she would do all that the queen wanted, if, and only if, the queen promised in return that she would not kill Jack.

Until Duchess' current thoughts of true rebellion and overthrow of the monarchy, it was the most rebellious Duchess had ever let herself be.

Duchess had assumed that the queen would not really kill her son anyway, but, if the queen wanted Duchess' spy services, than she would do as Duchess asked.

Therefore the blonde understood Hatter and his own deal with the devil. The twins, as creepy and twisted as they were, were right about one thing.

For every triumph there was also, somewhere in the world, a similar and equal failure.

Hatter could rise above the very clouds if he wished. He could grow three times his normal size and walk through the trees of the forest as if they were pebbles on a beach. He could laugh heartily if he desired and gain back his old life. The twins could poke and prod him no longer, nor was there Mad March to question him anymore.

But as Hatter grew in spirit and in soul, Alice was in danger of shrinking. She was in danger of being crushed and bruised with all the pain that Hatter had just spent a lifetime experiencing. He knew that the affects were slow, and would sneak up on his love. Perhaps she would not realize it at first, but soon the affects would sweep into her like the ever quick wind.

Hatter wondered if he could save her the same way that she had saved him.

But would that not threaten her life as well?

"Please," he begged again falling to his knees.

And it was in that moment that something happened in Wonderland that had not happened before. It had been said that Wonderlanders, such as they were, were creatures who had a lack of emotions. Their pain, unless induced by a poison or an overdose of an oyster emotion, could not rise very high on its own. However, neither could their happiness, or anger, or…sadness.

So it was in that space of time when the lights winked in their shared secrets, and two men ran through white hallways, that an unheard of event occurred. So it was in this space of time when a girl's pain threatened to crumble a building, and a queen's plan threatened to kill her son that a miracle of sorts happened.

Without any warning, without any drugs in his body, Hatter found tears running from his watery eyes down his cheeks and hitting the pale floor.

He had done something that no other Wonderlander had ever done before. It was something that not even the great Caterpillar, with all his theories, could comprehend.

Hatter loved the girl named Alice.

He looked up at his torturers with eyes blinded in tears. And he knew he would not give up the girl he loved without a fight.

Sometimes men have a way of rising towards redemption without standing up.

**Now hatter has to save Alice? Why can't they just catch a break??? (wait, thats up to me right *smiles*) cookies for those who reviews this...please do!!!!!**


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